In the classroom, I glanced across the table at my two children’s faces as the safety video played on the big screen. The throaty narration reviewed underwater hand gestures—silent signals to indicate distress, to call for help. Both kids watched, their gentle smiles and leaned-in postures making it clear: they weren’t afraid.

Last week, I was on a call with my business coach who’s supporting the creation of some future writing offerings, and she suggested that I broadly share my Substack via social media. My mind flitted on the idea of putting my writing “out there,” and a message came through with the fortitude of one of the afternoon storms we get in Colorado in the summer…