I  think we’re all baby sugar gliders at one time or another – staring into the face of something new, something foreign, something that COULD be awesome but also could really hurt if it flops.

Thank God for those encouraging sugar gliders in our lives who remind us of the exciting possibilities of flying. Yes, failure may occur but life can offer so many AMAZING experiences when we’re brave and take a leap.

So if that’s you this Friday – that little wide-eyed, terrified sugar glider – then allow me to stand in the tree with you and remind you that you are capable, loved, and just might FLY if you go for it.

Ask her out.

Smile at the stranger.

Apply to the grad school.

Say goodbye and walk away.

Write the letter.

You might fall, but you also might fly. And that’s what sugar gliders like you were built for. You’ve got this.

{Just as a completely random but totally important side note: aren’t sugar gliders the BEST??? I knew this kid in college who had one (illegally) in the dorms. It would sleep in the pockets of his hoodies. Let me tell you, when you walk around campus with a sugar glider, it is a total girl magnet – maybe even better than a puppy. Not that I’m giving any dating advice here or anything…}

“Come to the edge,” he said,

“We can’t, we’re afraid!” they responded.

“Come to the edge,” he said.

“We can’t, We will fall!” they responded.

“Come to the edge,” he said.

And so they came.

And he pushed them.

And they flew.”

 

-Guillaume Apollinaire

PS. Out of curiosity, I just did some Google research for the source of the shorter quote – “What if I fall?” “Oh but my darling, what if you fly?” – because Pinterest and Instagram are nice but they do not count as sources. It turns out that it was penned by a young, 19 year-old poet named Erin Hanson. Beautiful. Erin, I’m your biggest fan!

PPS. If you’d like to own your very own original piece of folk-art brilliance, head over to the party on Instagram! I’m going to be sending these sugar gliders to one lucky person (or I could always send it to a friend of yours who needs some encouragement to fly). Go check out the instructions on the post to be part of the Friday fun!