There are many moments in life when we decide to take new paths and embark on new adventures and new challenges. It takes loads of courage to do this. Many of us have this wish of starting over deeply rooted in our souls, but lack the determination to do so. We may be stuck in a comfort zone and be afraid of the unknown. However, when we find the courage to finally take this step, our whole world changes and we find unknown strengths and powers inside ourselves.
Marie Harter is an example of courage with a colorful pallet of inspirational stories, ideas and thoughts. At only 27, she created a platform for young designers in France and embarked on a coaching career. She is curious about the future, but she tries to live more in the present, not defining goals and plans. This is such an important lesson because we run all day long to reach targets and achieve goals. We live in the future, but forget about our present and about ourselves.
To be beautiful is to love yourself, to love others, to be light and shadow… All our emotions and all our actions in life contribute to our beauty…
Marie Harter
Marie reminded me that it is important to be more aware, live more in the present and enjoy life more. Her beautiful energy is contagious, she is positive and so inspirational! We had a heartwarming talk about things that inspire her, motivation, beauty and success and I am so delighted to share her truthful insights and inspiring thoughts with you!
What inspires you and what do you do to connect with your inner creative force?
Marie: Inspiration is so fleeting. It comes and goes and it may be triggered by many things… I may be inspired by a photo one day, a trip the other… an emblematic person, a day, pouring rain… The same I feel about my “creative force”. It exists in everyone. We all have it, but not all of us use it… It’s just a matter of who decides to unlock it. Either we decide to use it for living and for our experiences or we stay away from our sparks and our potential.
Taking the time to live is not always easy, we always have the impression that we have to go fast, that we don’t have the right to waste time.
Marie Harter
I tested a lot of things out of the desire to discover… out of curiosity… I played with my creativity and explored all the tools that were available to me. I don’t want my life to be bland, since it never was anyway. I am listening more to my emotions now. I pay attention to my feelings and nurture my creativity and inspiration with everything that goes on inside my heart and around me, in my environment.
What motivates you to do your very best?
Marie: I am just trying to be what I am… to discover myself, know myself and live truthfully. Taking the time to live is not always easy, we always have the impression that we have to go fast, that we don’t have the right to waste time.
We must know that we never lose, we always gain something. All that is happening to us, all our meetings and experiences make us better and transform us every day. And then again, what means to be better? Better for whom? We are constantly competing with everything, all the time, so I believe being better means in fact to be good enough for you. To be the best version of yourself for you. To do your very best for you.
I don’t know where I will be tomorrow, who I will be or what I’m going to go through, but I know one thing: I want to learn new things every day and open my eyes to the way of living that makes me happy and complete and last, but not least, to always feel completely alive.
I have both a very masculine side and very feminine one that I fully assume. I am both delicate and strong and these two main features have always helped me in any uncomfortable situation that I have found myself.
Marie Harter
What is beauty for you?
Marie: Beauty is everything. 🙂 I don’t think beauty is articulated only by what we want to show or see because it goes much further than that. I believe that we constantly try to be beautiful without knowing the conscious reason of why we want to be beautiful.
To be beautiful is to love yourself, to love others, to be light and shadow, to be everything you have the right to and everything you can live for.
We will all live moments when beauty will not make sense to us, because it is not only physical and sometimes we seek to be beautiful inside, to make things beautiful around us. Energies… strength and weakness are beauty too…
All our emotions and all our actions in life contribute to our beauty… build the beauty of our soul. Love, too! Yes, you may very well give in to the “boxes” that society has created for you and just go ahead and step into any of them or more. But then again, we are not just “boxes”, we are far more complex than that. You must know your essence and your path. Let yourself be guided by love and you will be beauty.
I don’t think you have to show that you exist or that you must prove yourself as a woman. Woman or Man, we remain Human in the end.
Marie Harter
Do you feel that there is too much pressure to look a certain way nowadays?
Marie: The problem is that we are judged constantly, no matter what we do. And if we are “different” from those “boxes”, it gets worse. If everyone focused more on themselves, their life and not on others, there would be less pressure to be who you want to be when you want to be.
I have had my share of trouble. This pressure pushed me to do really different things and I found myself in very difficult situations because I did not want to be left aside. I was not ready to accept to be “different” so I tried to be part of something that I didn’t belong to. I forced this and it was worse… But I have learned my lesson in time! Now, I try to listen only to my heart and do what I feel. If we start listening to everyone, we will be so lost 🙂 Let’s be who we want to be!
Please share more about your personal journey in loving yourself & your body.
Marie: It’s a work in progress and there are things that I do on a daily basis, depending on my mood. As I have a lot of freedom today in my freelance work, I can organize my agenda as I want. My days are either free or fully booked, so when I have a big day off, I really take the opportunity to do what I want: it goes from nothing to walks or creative activities.
I try not to impose myself on anything and offer me the freedom to listen to my needs and my body. Sometimes I’m going to need to play sports or try things out, so from time to time I do yoga or I dance at home. I don’t have a lot of advice to give on a beauty or detox day, because I’m far from it. However, there are three things that help me tremendously every day:
- Writing
- Music
- The Sun
I relieve some thoughts through these three things that are very important to me and that’s how I try to take care of myself.
The same I feel about my “creative force”. It exists in everyone. We all have it, but not all of us use it… It’s just a matter of who decides to unlock it. Either we decide to use it for living and for our experiences or we stay away from our sparks and our potential.
Marie Harter
How do you feel about women’s empowerment?
Marie: I find it a very strong and very powerful movement, but I feel completely detached from it for one simple reason: I have never felt any threat on my femininity.
I have both a very masculine side and very feminine one that I fully assume. I am both delicate and strong and these two main features have always helped me in any uncomfortable situation that I have found myself.
It’s a movement that I respect, but I don’t think you have to show that you exist or that you must prove yourself as a woman. Woman or Man, we remain Human in the end. It is not our fault that society has decided otherwise. You just have to be aware that there is an imbalance and that was created by humans against humans.
You may very well give in to the “boxes” that society has created for you and just go ahead and step into any of them or more. But then again, we are not just “boxes”, we are far more complex than that. You must know your essence and your path. Let yourself be guided by love and you will be beauty.
Marie Harter
What does your success look like?
Marie: Some time ago, I dropped the definition of success because it is a word which is heavy with meaning and which defines a moment T in life. Since today, I left behind a company to create another which I might stop at some point, because life is so unpredictable. If I had been told one day that I will be here today, I would have been afraid of knowing the way. At this moment, my success is to find my balance in life – without having to define hypotheses, objectives or analyzes.
If you could have a superpower, what would that be?
Marie: The only power that I thought of since I was little is teleportation. I think being able to have this freedom without depending on a vehicle or something is very significant. It is a syndrome to want to be everywhere at the same time and also be able to respond to people’s needs, very quickly.
If your life would have a soundtrack, what would that be?
Marie: I have such a dense Spotify playlist, I have never had one single favorite artist or album, because music is so important to me. I’m going to try to find a title that could sum up my life, but it’s such a difficult question because all emotions cannot be united in a single track.
For the sunbeam:
Billy Paul – Your Song (to live, laugh, feel power, warmth)
For gloomy weather:
La ritournelle – Sebastien Tellier (to shout, to cry, to dance, to feel)
What are your future plans and what are you excited about this year?
Marie: I started this year with countless questions. I have stopped an activity that I no longer liked and didn’t make anymore sense for me. I have realized that I was hurrying in a direction, to please society maybe, but not myself, that is why I will try to live with more awareness this year. To learn more about myself and my purpose. To offer to myself more experiences, feelings, emotions… more life!
Even if I have to let myself go and walk in my darkest dimensions to come out brighter than ever. I know that deep inside, I am getting ready for something. It’s a new beginning but you must walk through storm to see the rainbow, so I am ready for this. There is a force out of nowhere that gives me the strength to do so and the courage to be aware of who I really am. I am learning every day. Sometimes I am afraid – it’s normal – sometimes I don’t care and sometimes I am more courageous than ever!
Close your eyes, take a moment to contemplate your body and go into this emotion. The fear is there… it can grow, but once you get into that emotion, watch it transform. It pushes us, it guides us, it wants us good, it transcends us, it makes us even stronger, even more humane, even more courageous.
Marie Harter
What advice would you give to someone who wants to handle better their emotions and fears to gain the courage to take a new path in life?
Marie: The first piece of advice I could give is that there is nothing to reject. Our emotions are only there, because they are proof that we exist and that we are human. Managing your emotions means taking a moment to get to know them, then watching them go by and understanding how positive they can be for us and how they turn into a force. They exist to guide and support us.
Let’s talk about fear: we often equate fear, anxiety, stress with an unpleasant feeling, which blocks us and which has nothing to do in our body. However, it is an ultra powerful emotion, which exists because she is there to guide us. It took me a long time to understand this notion and sometimes I remain stuck in my positions.
“I want it to pass”, “I don’t want to be afraid of myself”, “I’m tired of this period”: the more I block and I stay focus on it, the less I advance and the less I free myself.
Don’t make decisions when the emotions are out of control. Take the time, because after the storm, the sun announces the tranquility in our choices.
Marie Harter
So apart from accepting the situation, I have nothing more to do. If you reject this emotion or you block it, the emotion becomes more and more unpleasant. If you let go, everything rebalances and everything becomes fairer and clearer.
Close your eyes, take a moment to contemplate your body and go into this emotion. The fear is there… it can grow, but once you get into that emotion, watch it transform. It pushes us, it guides us, it wants us good, it transcends us, it makes us even stronger, even more humane, even more courageous.
If you are afraid, it is because you are strong, because this fear means that the situation you are in creates something for you. If you’ve ever thought about this new path and it gives you fear, the intuition is clear enough to tell you “go for it”!
Last advice: don’t make decisions when the emotions are out of control. Take the time, because after the storm, the sun announces the tranquility in our choices.
Thank you so much, Marie, for your honest, raw and powerful insights! This has been a great journey itself and an amazing inspiration!
If you wish to learn more about how to handle your emotions, discover your inner strengths and the courage to embark on new adventures and new paths, feel free to get in touch with Marie!
