What do I love the most about hosting Freshly Press Yourself? Well, reading all of your diverse, inspiring, creative posts is definitely one of them. But my absolute favorite thing is visiting your blogs and reading the comments you’ve left for one another. Support, encouragement, “I’ve been there too,” or “You really made me think.” The community aspect of blogging always blows me away. Because we’re all out there, typing away, hitting publish and hoping to connect with others. Any chance to facilitate that makes me very happy and very grateful.
 
So, even though this round is over, feel free to go back anytime and read all of the great posts shared over the last week and take a second to connect: leave a comment or a like. Give some love to this fab post, or this one. It’s pretty cool how easy it is to make someone else’s day just by saying: I see you and I like you. It’s as simple as that.
 
So, onto the featured blogs…
 
Sacrebleu, I saw and liked so many of you that it was incredibly difficult to choose just three. We all have a certain worldview, things that inspire us or motivate us or make us nod our heads in agreement. I love seeing what that looks like for other people. When I look through my little telescope out onto the rest of the world, I find myself very drawn to people who are out there taking chances, looking life in the eye, being honest about what they see and then forging ahead.
 
This round of Pressables features three ladies who are out there navigating the waters of life in a very brave and present way. (And, because men so often get outnumbered on Truth and Cake, I have to give a shout out to Bob Bonsall’s post Dating Advice from Scientists. It’s très clever. Check it out!).
 
Without further ado, three courageous, creative bloggers share their take on living a brave life:
 

I just adore this post about navigating life’s curveballs. Just when we think we have it all figured out and we’ve lined things up to our liking, life shoves us off of our projected path. Katie candidly shares what it’s like to readjust and take the new, possibly more interesting journey.
 
“So maybe I needed to get shoved off that path. Maybe I needed to get placed directly into a role that I would have fearfully talked my way out of if left to my own devices.”
 
 

Claire is afraid of heights. And yet she goes parasailing and ice climbing, fully realizing that her palms will sweat and her heart will race. She isn’t trying to erase her fears but rather face them head on so that she can use her physical experiences with fear to tackle the scarier human ones: interactions at work, asking for what she wants, living a fuller life.
 
“Courage isn’t an absence of fear. Courage is having fear and dealing with it.”
 
 

Nic’s post is a beautifully written reflection on balancing the big, brave world with the smaller cacoon of home. Sometimes the pull of adventure is strong and we want nothing more than to tackle it head on. But being brave and adventurous also involves knowing our limits and leaving space for recuperation and reflection.
 
“I find balance to be an ever-elusive ideal, a shape-shifter lingering in the corners of my minds-eye. I find home to be a comfort and a cage, depending on my state of mind. I feel the future is full of possibilities, so many possibilities that at times I am overwhelmed if I let myself be so.”
 
 
Thanks to everyone who participated! You guys are the best. I’ve disabled comments on this post so that you can direct all of your comment love to these fabulous bloggers.