You have my attention.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2012-01-31T07:30:00.000-06:00

fears erased daily

I write to give myself strength.

I write to be the characters that I am not.

I write to explore all the things I'm afraid of.

-Joss Whedon

I sought the Lord and he answered me,

He delivered me from all my fears.

-Psalm 34:4

The fear of death follows from the fear of life.

A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.

-Mark Twain

I am convinced that fear is the root

of most bad writing.

Stephen King, "On Writing"

To live a creative life,

we must lose our fear of being wrong.

-Joseph Chilton Pearce

leave your fears behind

I was reading through my moleskins and realized how many of my quotes have some sort of relation to fear. It's clearly because I need all the good words I can get on being brave. It's definitely not something that comes easily to me. Here is a non-exhaustive list of things I'm afraid of:

-The Mothman
-Drowning
-Meteors hitting the Earth
-Rumplestiltskin
-Getting arrested for something I've said
-Being so ambitious, that I get to where I'm going and I'm all by myself
-Never getting to be a mom
-When I was kid, I was afraid I was going to have to marry a taxi cab driver named Frank. I can't even begin to know why.
-Being abducted by aliens

What are you afraid of?

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2012-01-27T17:23:00.002-06:00

...even if it's Friday.

Okay, I am SO sorry that I didn't post on Tuesday. But I'm excited to share some really good inspiration that's kept me going all week. Last week, Erin and I were in Los Angeles (it was my first visit!) enjoying the sun and doing lots of hanging out. The trip was filled with the sharing of lots of good words. And while you may hear more about LA's traffic and smog clouds, they also have sun and beaches and a Chinese theater where I can high five a cement version of Adam Sandler's hand.

Hooray for Hollywood

Here is some inspiration from some of my favorite people in Hollywood:

Most of the stuff I do on the show comes out of

me just trying to make my friends laugh.

-Adam Sandler

I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and... I believe in miracles.

-Audrey Hepburn

What I observed about my fellow actors was that most gave up very easily.

-Harrison Ford

There's a drive in me that won't allow

me to do certain things that are easy.

-Johnny Depp

There's something liberating about not pretending.

Dare to embarrass yourself. Risk.

-Drew Barrymore

Now more than ever we need to talk to each other,

to listen to each other and understand how we see the world,

and cinema is the best medium for doing this.

-Martin Scorsese

I'm not funny. What I am is brave.

-Lucille Ball

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2012-01-17T07:39:00.000-06:00

You're running out of time.
Time is a pressing matter so I figured I'd cut right to the chase.
Today is Tuesday, but it's the last January 17th, 2012 you'll ever have and you can waste it trying to be extra cool or you can stop trying so hard to have it all together and just live.

You can stop making efforts where you aren't getting anywhere.
You can start investing where there's a need.
You can stop making excuses and finally put your money where your mouth is.

Or you can keep getting older.
And you can keep yourself entertained.
And then one day you'll die and at your funeral we'll all talk about the amazing impact you had on Twitter.

So this Tuesday, live fiercely and love well.
Because, what better way to remember today?

Typographic verses

Do not thing that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary.

What we need is to love without getting tired.

-Mother Theresa

Show me how to love like you have loved me.

Break my heart for what breaks yours.

-"Hosanna", Hillsong

Love not as an excuse for the mushy and innocuous

but love as a summons to battle against all that is

unlovely & unloving in this world.

-Frederich Buechner

Love is the only shocking act left on the planet.

-Reed Bennett, "Valentine's Day"

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2012-01-10T23:24:00.002-06:00

This Christmas, I got my first tube of Chanel lipstick from my abuela. For a boy, that doesn't mean anything, but Coco Chanel is a big deal to me. I'm pretty obsessed right now. I mean, I suppose I could've gone and bought my own Chanel lipstick from Macy's but there's something about a mom passing on wisdom about being a lady to her daughter.

Born in 1883, Coco went from daughter of a washerwoman to fashion icon.
She was scandalous, a fashionista, adventurous, brave and set the bar on classiness for generations of ladies to come. For the ladies in my life, here is some inspiration from Coco herself.

I Want To Remember

2012-01-07T10:19:00.001-06:00

I was reading this blog by Katie Davis, who lives across the globe in Africa and as a college student, decided to stay and raise 13 precious little girls. These are girls from all sorts of backgrounds with all sorts of stories. Some siblings, some orphans. The other night she found one daughter asleep on the hard floor, her blanket pulled around her. When Katie asked why she was sleeping on the floor, her daughter answered,

"I just want to remember. Some people don't have a bed, mom.

I didn't have a bed, mom. God gave me a bed.

And I wanted to remember what it was like to not have one."

Katie asked us to remember those things in our life.
That is how we also remember that God is good and faithful.

I've only been without a bed for two weeks.
I remember going and looking for one.
I remember waiting for it to be delivered.
I remember the two men who put it together in 5 minutes.
I remember buying it every time I look at it.
It's the first thing I bought when I moved to Nashville to start life as an adult.

I remember only knowing one person in this city.
I remember looking for jobs all day on an old PC.
I remember going for weirdo interviews to sell baseball tickets for Atlanta games in downtown Nashville.
I remember walking through the Cool Springs Mall (because it didn't charge admission to get in) and just looking at all the stuff I couldn't buy.
I remember packing up all the stuff that could fit in my car to drive to Nashville.
I remember Scott McDaniel telling Erin and I that we should start a web show.
I remember Darrel Girardier posting pictures from the set of Adventure Now 2 and Erin and I being so mad that girls were never in videos (little did we know our best roommate Lydia was in Adventure Now 2!)
I remember God putting Nashville on my heart- with no reason or explanation. He told none of my other friends at the time. He didn't tell my family they were going too. Just me. Then I went to camp and met Erin McGown.

I remember all those things because they have been some of the most wonderful, hilarious, horrible, difficult times of my life. But I know God brought me to and through all of it. So as I sit in the bed that I bought three and a half years ago, Erin, Lydia (and coincidentally Leslie too, who was one of our first visitors to Nashville) are still asleep in their beds. We have a house that we have to get ready for people to come over tonight. People we didn't know 3.5 years ago. I'm grateful for all of them, even though I should tell them that more. And as I'm entering my next phase of adventures, I remember the start of this one with confidence and with the awareness that I can always go to the mall if I have no money as long as they don't start charging at the door.

I moved to Nashville and we had our first pumpkin party!

Then Erin and I made this:

Everything changed after this.
What do you need to remember?

Things I've Seen Recently

2012-01-05T00:01:00.000-06:00

The holidays are a time for love and togetherness.

Also, for watching tons of movies- both the brand new and the things you didn't get a chance to see during the year.

Here are are my reviews from the things I've seen recently.

1. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Rating - one million stars (out of 5)

borrowed from this article

I didn't care about seeing this but my mom insisted. I hadn't even seen Mission Impossible 2 and 3. Now I regret not seeing it in IMAX when Justin Wylie asked. It has ridiculous actions and stunts- Tom Cruise dangling from the tallest building in the world (found in Dubai) almost made me throw up in the regular theater. In IMAX? Barf-fest (in a good way). Even more than that, it was genuinely funny, which I owe mostly to Simon Pegg. Moral of the story. See it. Forget all the things that make you not want to go, and just go. I promise.

2. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Rating - 4 out of 5 stars

borrowed from here

Sherlock Holmes is back to his usual How lucky is it that Robert Downey Jr. still has a full head of hair after all the drugs he's done?! I'd still date him. I was sad Rachel McAdams wasn't in more of the movie and some of the storyline was just okay... but I could watch some of these action scenes over and over. And where can I get some urban camouflage, amen? Also, two super solid soundtracks now. I loved this movie. Way to go Sherlock Holmes team!

3. One Day

Rating - 2 out 5 stars

borrowed from here

Well, I am a BIG fan of Focus Features. And then I started thinking... "don't most of these movies feature all-British casts?" This made me nervous when one of two stars was ANNE HATHAWAY. She is not British. Neither is she very convincing as a pretend Brit. (I still do like you, Anne. I promise.) I couldn't take it. I also didn't understand how the movie was going to end. I feel like neither did the people who made it. They just kind of said, "...and...we'll end here, I guess!" This is a good movie to put on if you have to finally scrapbook all your high school pictures and you need what feels like 6 hours to only kind of pay attention. (Also, quick positive note: I am glad to see Jim Sturgess again. He did a great job transforming over 20 years. And for being convincingly British, though it may help that he actually is.)

4. Tintin

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

borrowed from here

I've loved Tintin from the time I first saw a Tintin cartoon as a 5 year old. Mix in Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis and I am in heaven. Also, even if you don't even know what a Tintin is, the graphics in this movie are ridiculous, especially if you watch it in 3D (which I did). So, maybe my 5 stars are biased. But if you like adventure, pirates, treasure, British people, or puppies, there's a good chance you'll like Tintin. Just do yourself a favor and go watch it.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2012-01-03T21:57:00.003-06:00

I try not to let good things go by unnoticed.

-Jaber Crow

There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist.

-Mark Twain

Noticing the good things is a good habit. Here are things that shouldn't go unnoticed right now:

1. Finally seeing Christmas Party photobooth pictures

2. Coming into my office after two weeks and finding no-bake cookies and yogurt chex mix. Cha-ching.
3. Harry Potter soundtracks (I can listen to "Lilly's Theme" one hundred million times)
4. In 15 days, McGroan and I are taking a trip to Los Angeles! It's my first trip of many.
5. The perfect red lipstick for holiday parties

6. Sherlock Holmes 2. But you know what was even better than Sherlock Holmes 2? MISSION IMPOSSIBLE GHOST PROTOCOL. For reals. I never thought I'd say that.
7. Getting to spend 10 days with my family for Christmas. And our work email didn't work the entire time.
8. Funny text messages, clever jokes and birds of a feather. People who comment on blogs and people who leave comments on pictures. I love reading the things you guys write. Seriously.

Don't forget to make a list of things you love. They help you do good work.
I promise.

Joy

2012-01-02T12:53:00.002-06:00

Man, I love Marc Johns

Somethin' filled up my heart with nothin', someone told me not to cry.

But now that I'm older, my heart's colder, And I can see that it's a lie.

"Wake Up" by Arcade Fire

Do you ever feel like an empty shell?
I was talking with my wonderful friend Julia a couple of weeks ago and one of us said,
"I'm counting on God to provide the joy because right now I'm in the desert and I'm just trying to be faithful and keep walking. Right now, I'm just walking."
I've thought about that so much recently, because that's what I feel like.
Like I'm just walking. And trudging. Not joyfully.
Just trying my darndest to make it to the other side.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

Psalm 51:12 NLT

Psalm 51 is my favorite Psalm.
Here's a tip- read it out loud to yourself in the Message version. It'll make you cry.
"Restore to me the joy of your salvation."
It's something I've been thinking about recently- joy.
My lack of it.
Where it comes from. Where it goes.
And praying that God would send me an overflow because right now it feels gone.
Gone for a lot reasons I know of, probably a few I don't.
But I realize that joy fuels my work, and my writing and my ability to love others.
So I really need it back.

Turn and answer me, O LORD my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.

Psalm 13:3 NLT

So my prayer today, on January 2nd, is that it comes back.
That my motivation would come back.
That the sparkle in my eyes comes back, or I will die.
I mean, joy is a pretty serious thing.
And now, Page CXVI singing my heart:

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-12-27T23:18:00.000-06:00

This is our last Tuesday before 2012.
When you're an adult, time flies so much faster. I'm booked through February already.
Remember when it felt like 100 million years between when you got out of school and when Christmas Day arrived? Like, it was literally painful. Now, I'll be 65 in the blink of an eye.

But, let's bring our focus back to right now.
After 2011, here are some of the biggest inspirations of my year:

1. Keiko Lynn

sign me up for this dress.

Super fun blogger, great pictures, lots of inspiration. She taught me how to curl my hair (via Youtube tutorials) and where to find way cute shoes. She also inspired me to be more thoughtful when getting dressed- today is a day to wear something you love, right?

2. Jon Acuff

He taught me about being a Quitter. And about what being a cool parent looks like. And about what mobilizing a readership to do something awesome looks like. He's a regular dude doing things anyone one of use could do. And that's what I like about him. He's actually doing them.

3. Sleeping At Last

September cover of their Yearbook project

Again, Since the day I met her in 2008, a large amount of my life inspiration comes from Grace Schofield. Because of that, I get lots of good music inspiration from her. At the top of that list is Sleeping At Last. Favorites this year: "Emphasis" and "Accidental Light". Look them up. Then buy them.

4. Fringe

I want to fight crimes like Olivia Dunham

Anyone who has stood within 5 feet of me in the past month knows that I went through a complete Fringe immersion. I absolutely love that show. I love everything about Walter Bishop's character. Joshua Jackson has my whole heart. I can't even tell you which part I like more- the science/crime solving or their struggle to really know/love and understand one another. I'm there with you, Olive.

5. Catalyst Conference

This year I went to Catalyst Conference for the first time with our Kairos team at work. I've heard good things about it, but going was beyond anything I could've expected. The theme this year was "Be Present" which was simple to say but tough to actually live out (so it inspired this blog). I got to hear from people like Blake Mycoskie (sounder of TOMS shoes), Andy Stanley (pastor of North Point Community Church in Atlanta) and Judah Smith (pastor of City Church in Seattle, WA)- people dreaming, imagining, doing and being a little ridiculous. It was nice to just be present. It was nice to hear from the big guy. It was nice to be surrounded by a lot of people trying to figure out the same things I am. And for that, Catalyst, I salute you. For your ferris wheel outside the conference center, I again salute you. For your kissing contest before the start of the conference, I demand reimbursement for the price of my breakfast.

So that is certainly not an exhaustive list, but definitely some milestones for me on Inspiration list. And know that I have a lot of things lined up for 2012. I'm Mayan, so it's my year.

And you? What were your big inspirers in 2011?

A Light shines in the darkness

2011-12-24T10:16:00.000-06:00

Christmas is just a regular day if it's not the day Jesus Christ, a baby, was born.
And not just any baby.
The baby that would bring light to darkness,
that would bring joy from sadness,
that would bring hope from ruin.
And that has to be a better reason to celebrate than any you'll see on television.

Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give us second birth.

source

O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see thee lie

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by

Yet in thy dark streets shineth

The everlasting Light

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight.

source

Silent night, holy night

Son of God, love's pure light

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.

source

In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
John 1:1-5 NLT

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-12-20T08:57:00.000-06:00

I get a lot of inspiration from my friend Grace.
Which, in turn, means I get a lot of inspiration from Sleeping At Last.
She sent me this song the other day after we had a conversation that involved me saying,
"this plan... I just don't want to be reckless..."

She responded with this:

Time's running out, it's always running out on me,

and every road I've discovered disappears under my feet-

Some call it reckless, I call it breathing.

Well, you can't argue with Grace.

This song is about the horrible/wonderful fight that is creating something, becoming something.
There's no promise, no guarantee of winning or success.
But, "if it's all broken mirrors and a chance roll of the the dice,
then I'll risk everything for a glimpse of accidental light."

The song is at the top.
The lyrics are here at the bottom.

on your mark, get set...
a million miles past the finish line
my heels lift
at this imaginary starting line.
the trigger slips;
my heart was racing well before it’s time.
time’s running out, it’s always running out on me,
as the road up ahead disappears.

though it’s all been said,
and this empty dictionary is all that’s left,
i’ll try to change the world in a single word.
my hands are shaking, ready or not.
invisible ink well it’s all i’ve got.
so i’ll concentrate and pick from these barren trees.

time’s running out, it’s always running out on me,
and every road i discover disappears under my feet-

some call it reckless, some call it breathing.

have i said too much or not enough?
is it overkill or is it giving up,
to measure out the distance of an echo’s reach?

if it's all broken mirrors and a chance roll of the dice,
then i'll risk everything for a glimpse of accidental light.

time’s running out, it’s always running out on me,
and every road i’ve discovered disappears under my feet -

some call it reckless, i call it breathing.

(Accidental Light - Sleeping At Last)

For the whole story on "Accidental Light", read this blog by Sleeping At Last

Covert Operations

2011-12-18T23:36:00.001-06:00

I just finished writing some scripts about a secret agent and now I'm pretty convinced I would be a killer secret agent. Here's all I need:

1. A hollowed out book filled with passports and money from other countries.

2. A watch with a laser. I'm not sure if the laser kills people, yet. Maybe it'll just change channels in Best Buy or Circuit City (are there still Circuit Citys? RIP Circuit City.)

3. I have to convincingly speak a language no one else would ever need. And I have to pull it out of the hat when everyone else thinks my cover is blown. You don't believe that I'm the Nigerian prime minister? Well ku aro to you.

4. I need a car that comes and finds me when I click a button. If I'm running away from North Korean or the Penguin, I want to be able to push the red button on my keychain and have my Astin Martin show up right at the door of Chinese restaurant/back room gambling operation. I'm going to jump out the 2nd story window, hit the striped awning and land in the front seat through the sun roof.

If you need me, I'll be registering from the Champion School of Covert Operations.
Doesn't exist? Boom.

If I am invisible, I am instantly the best spy.

I am a lady, but same principle.

I learned everything I know from Harriet.

I want to be a master spy.

This might be me.

Things You Might Not Know

2011-12-13T00:46:00.001-06:00

I don't know that there is such a place where it's not easier to blend in, to fall into line, to not make waves. It will always be easier to lay low than to deal with the possibility of people not liking you.
But it can also mean you don't want to write blogs or start conversations or come out of your office at work. And all of those things are dumb.

So here are some things you might not know:

I practice my British accent in my car.
Meth is my go-to drug for all jokes. I don't do meth. I just like to talk about it a lot.
Waking up early isn't in my DNA. Going to sleep early isn't either.
Don't feel like we have to small-talk. We can be silent together and I'll probably like you more for it.
I'm really bad at having text message conversations. If you've gotten me to reply a half dozen times in one conversation, know I'm trying really hard. If you haven't, it's no reflection of you. It's totally a reflection of my limited text capacity.
If we get in an argument, consider us on pause until you're ready to talk about it. And know that my ability to stay on pause has extended into weeks. No rush, it's just time we're wasting.
When I was in the 4th grade, my teacher Mrs. Bonilla had a do an assignment where we wrote about what we wanted to be when we grew up. I wanted to be a singer, but she said, because I was a girl, I had to write that I wanted to be a "songstress". Does that even make sense? Maybe in a world classier than this one. I still think about being a songstress and how much nicer it is for boys to just get to be singers.
With unlimited resources, I would probably build a wardrobe that belonged in 1986. For a kid on the set of a John Williams film in 1986.
I know a little about a lot. I know a lot about Hanson.
If you leave me a voicemail and then I call you and you ask "did you get my message?" I may say yes, but the answer is really no. I didn't listen to your voicemail. Even if it was funny. I'll tell you I'll go back and listen to it, but I'll just save it (with good intentions of listening to it eventually) and then give up and delete it after two weeks.
I have "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" saved on my DVR. I watch it a lot because I love this scene where OneRepublic's "Secrets" plays underneath it. I realize I could just listen to OneRepublic's "Secrets" on repeat, but I don't know if it would be nearly as gratifying.
I can find a way to reference Harry Potter in every conversation I have. If I don't, it's because I was using self control.
I think I'm a ginger magnet. I don't know anyone besides Hermione Granger who knows more gingers. (See what I did there? Harry Potter reference in your face.)
Khloe is my favorite Kardashians. There are no other Kardashians on my list of favorite Kardashians.

So there it is. Right now, as you're reading this, I'm either at work speaking to myself in a British accent and catching up on Snooki tweets, or I'm at my house watching "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and looking up lyrics to Jay-Z songs. Because that's what I do. It doesn't get any classier, folks.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-11-29T18:29:00.001-06:00

One of my dearest friends, Grace, wrote a blog for her 29th birthday and, as usual, it was not the usual blog. She decided to celebrate her 29th year of life by finding 29 people- near and far, close friends and new friends, good friends and not so good friends- and investing in them.

Grace is a daily inspiration to me.
And so today I'm thinking about a similar list. Maybe not 29 because I'm nowhere near as capable as she is as loving people. But I'm making a list.

So what about you?
Do you have a list? Do you have friends who are doing awesome things?
Do you have 29 people who could benefit from more of you in their life?
Maybe...

And if that's not enough, there are these:

the best yearbook

it's obviously a thug life

The kitten was clearly missing a sweater

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-11-22T08:00:00.001-06:00

Mark Twain wisdom

Recently, I've been really wrestling with the question of "what's next?" and "how do I live right now?" I've realized how easy it is, and how quickly you can become accustomed to the things you have, the situation you're in, good or bad. But it's not time to stop trying to "find out why", so this is not time to be lazy. It's Tuesday, be inspired to get questions answered.

Feel the pain teaching us how much more we can take,

reminding us how far we've come.

-Aaron Marsh, Copeland

We are trying to shout the Gospel with our lives.

-Sister Margaret

Sometimes we speak to change the world;

Other times we speak to keep the world from changing us.

-from "Irresistible Revolution"

Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things

you do not know

-Jeremiah 33:3

Live fiercely.

-Luke Johnson

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,

committed individuals can change the world.

In fact, it's the only thing that ever has.

-Margaret Mead

I don't want to just survive,

I want to live!

-Wall-e

Late Bloomer

2011-11-18T11:19:00.001-06:00

Refusing to bloom

The other day I was looking at car stereos online (hello, 12th grade boy, right?) and I had one of those lightning bolt revelations.

I am a late bloomer.

From my 8th grade picture looked like I would end up ringing bells in a tower somewhere because I had no knowledge of putting on makeup, much less brushing my hair to how I still don't entirely know how a Blu-Ray and a DVD are different but my parents bought me a Blu-Ray player because they love theirs, I will always be a little behind the times.

I used to be so amazed that other girls knew how to curl their hair and put on liquid eyeliner. That they had moms that taught them to just drink water if they were hungry. I missed the boat on all three of those (and if I'm ever able to curl my hair, it'll only be because of countless youtube tutorials) and until recently I thought, "What the heck?! When do I get to catch up?"

But as God has been working on me recently, I'm realizing that the things that have always been my handicap are now some of my favorites:

-Look, I like fantasy movies. And by that I mean I could watch Harry Potter for the rest of my life and not be sad. I don't care about reality television or sports (which is technically reality television, now that I think about it). I don't care about Star Trek or even (gasp) Inception. All wonderful movies, believe me, but I know the end of Harry Potter and I would still watch it over and over again. Lord of the Rings, same deal. Nerdy, I know. I'm okay with it.

-I will always try to make you a gift before I buy you a gift. Why? Partly because I'm cheap. Partly because I like the process of making something. I like giving something that no one else will ever have a duplicate of. You will think, "Oh, really, you shouldn't have... this paper mache duck..." And I will be so happy to have spent 9 hours with my hands in glue and newspaper crafting you your very own feathered friend and covering it with glitter at some point. Yes. I still really like glitter.

-I have no way of listening to an iPod in my car
-I will probably be a middle-aged woman arguing against the obviously more efficient Kindle.
-I'm a little afraid of making a Groupon commitment
-I've used Spotify three times. I couldn't get the hang of Last FM and sometimes Pandora can be a little sassy with me. I'll just stick to getting my music from the radio, VH1 Jumpstart and my friends Justin Wylie and Grace Schofield. Why? Because I'm old.

So I'm a late bloomer. Maybe you are too. Maybe you're a functional human and know how the world works. You are my hero, for realsies. When it comes to being cutting edge and hip, I now know I will never be at the head of that pack. But that's okay, because I will hang out in the back with my chocolate frogs and messy hair and I will have a good time the whole way.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-11-15T17:55:00.001-06:00

In honor of Deathly Hallows Part 2 finally coming home to our house, it's only fitting that our inspiration should come from the wisest of the wizarding world. Words of wisdom from Albus Dumbledore...

sourcey source

Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.

We must try not to sink beneath our anguish,
but battle on.

Soon we must all face the difficult choice between what is right and what is easy.

Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times,

if one only remembers to turn on the light.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

You fail to recognize that it matters not what
someone is born, but what they grow to be.

And now Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them.

In fact, being - forgive me - rather cleverer than most men,

my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger.

"Tell me one last thing," said Harry. "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living
and, above all, those who live without love. By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart. If that seems to you a worthy goal, then we say good-bye for the present.

When I Grow Up

2011-11-11T22:01:00.001-06:00

I'm super stoked because right now I think Hollywood is rampant with gals who are funny, smart and super cute. I've compiled a list of the gals I want to be just like when I grow up:

1. Ginnifer Goodwin
I'm willing to overlook "Something Borrowed"and focus on how much I love her in "Once Upon A Time" because I adore Ginnifer Goodwin. She's been a polygamist, a cello playing forward-thinking college student and now Snow White. What a doll.

source

2. Jennifer Lopez
Minus being once married to Marc Anthony, I want to be JLo. She has great hair. She can dance, sing and be in romantic comedies with cute guys. Is there a downside? No. No, there's not.

source

3. Drew Barrymore
I love her. From the first time I saw "Never Been Kissed", I wanted to be just like her. And the day I'm in a movie with Adam Sandler, that dream will be complete.

source

4. Joy Williams
I stand by my statement that Joy Williams should teach classes to girls on how to be so freaking cute, just like her. Plus, anyone who hangs out that much with John Paul White is grade A in my book.

source

5. Zooey Deschanel
Fine. FINE. One episode of "The New Girl" and I'm convinced. But let the record show that I don't really care about the movie "Elf". She's just easy, effortless awesome and any girl would want to be that.

source

Big Business

2011-11-10T00:25:00.000-06:00

Let me just tell you, I am pretty much a genius idea generator.
I decided to compile some of my top business ideas after being inspired by an episode of The New Girl.
I'll also be accepting investor emails starting... now...

Zooey Desch-cuteness

1. I hire Joy Williams and Zooey Deschanel to teach classes for girls on being cute. Course lessons include "Finding Dresses That Are Just the Right Length", "Holding Your Arms Cute", and "Popping Your Hip Really Cute". Trust me. It's going to be a big hit.

People will want to date you for this. I promise.

2. I'll rent cute puppies and babies to single men and women. It will also double as a doggie/child daycare. Everyone wins, especially me.

Get a Pinterest

3. I will find cute things to pin on your Pinterest boards. You want cute DIY projects? You want cute hair ideas? You want cute things covered in glitter? I'm your girl. I will scour the internets (or at least other people's pin boards) and I will load those jokers with cute things. You'll never be bored again. Or ugly. And while you make a wreath out of yarn and paper flowers or curl your hair, you can look at inspiring words in cool fonts. You're welcome.

You've never been so interested in art.

4. I want to record funny audio tours for museums. Yep, that's a simple one. I won't tell tourists about how the artist or the Romantic period. I'll tell them where they can find all the paintings of kittens or women who look like men. Those things are important too.

Trust me, these are good ideas and Zooey Deschanel's cute little nose is going to make me millions.
Believe it.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-11-08T09:05:00.002-06:00

borrowed from Tracie Reisgo's Pinterest pin board

Come on, jump out the door

You can't hold it down no more

I'll show you how the birds learned how to fly.

Don't mind leaving your nest

Don't mind making a mess

This might be the best day of your life.

-Katie Herzig, "Best Day Of Your Life"

The past week or two has been a battle for me.

I'll explain in an upcoming blog (I promise), but today my inspiration for you is just as much for me.

First of all, if you've never listened to Katie Herzig, sorry.

You should immediately go to iTunes and buy her album "The Waking Sleep".

If you can't, then listen to "Best Day of Your Life" here on Youtube.

Next, if you're sitting in your office moping,

if you've forgotten how to laugh,

if you've been walking around with a gray cloud over your head,

if life hasn't been as fair as you think it should be,

STOP IT.

Because this might be the best day of your life.

I once told my friend Emory, "Today is Tuesday. Anything can happen on a Tuesday."

I still mean that.

And who says you have to wait for it to happen to you?

Don't mind leaving your nest.

Don't mind making a mess.

So stop. The best day of your life is waiting on you.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-11-01T21:52:00.000-05:00

It's Tuesday and here is some inspiration.
So why ain't you flying?

Life is for living,

not living uptight.

-Jay-Z, "Live Forever"

"We fooled you. This right here,

It ain't a conference.

It's a runway.

Why ain't you flyin'...?"

-Catalyst 2011

Is this real life?

Do you know why I put up with this pitiful job, Mr. Donaghy? Why I fetch these folks' lunch and clean up their barfs? Because they make television. And more than jazz or musical theater or morbid obesity, television is the true American art form. Think of all the shared experiences television has provided for us, from the Moon landing to the Golden girls finale; from Walter Cronkite denouncing Vietnam, to Oprah pulling the trash bag of fat our in the wagon; from the glory and the pageantry of the Summer Olympics, to the less fun Winter Olympics. So please, don't tell me I don't have a dream, sir. I am living my dream.

-Kenneth Parcell, 30 Rock

Let us live like we were children.

Make us feel like we're still living

In a world I know is burning to the ground.

-Needtobreathe

Instead of wondering where your next vacation is,

maybe you ought to set up a life

you don't need to escape from.

-Seth Godin

This bear has places to go.

Great tales are about those who don't give up.

There is good left in the world worth fighting for.

Let your life point to that.

-Sean Astin, Story Conference 2011

tea with a lobster and a hawk, of course

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life,

and the only way to be truly satisfied

is to do what you believe is great work.

And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

-Steve Jobs

The biggest mistake people make in this life

is not trying to make a living doing what they enjoy most.

-M. Forbes

Tuesdays Are for Inspiration

2011-10-25T13:46:00.006-05:00

I am one of those people who can listen to the same song over and over again.
I can do that with movies too. Maybe there's a screw loose...
I get hooked on a word or a lyric or an image.
That's all it takes for me sometimes.

Anyway, sometimes inspiration rides in with a song you absolutely love.
Right now, "Fly" is my jam. Also, I love Nicki Minaj more than I probably should.
In the past, it's included...

"Live Forever" by Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors
"Superbass" by Nicki Minaj (trend? yes.)
"Power" by Kanye West
"On to the Next One" Jay-Z
"Joy" by Page CXVI
"All the Poor and Powerless" by All Sons & Daughters
"O Children" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

So this is my inspiration I'm sharing with you.
What is rocking your socks off at the moment?

I came to win, to fight

To conquer, to thrive

I came to win, to survive

To prosper, to rise

To fly.

-"Fly" - Rihanna, featuring Nicki Minaj

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-10-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Do not regret growing older.

It is a privilege denied to many.

-unknown

The process of growing up is to be valued for what we gain, not for what we lose.

-CS Lewis

Don't speed through life like it's an emergency.

Life isn't an emergency.

It's a gift.

-Ann Voskamp, Story Conference 2011

When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life.

I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down "happy".

They told me I didn't understand the assignment.

I told them they didn't understand life.

-via Le Love Blog

Do not go gentle.

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

-Dylan Thomas

Keep a clear eye on life's end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God's creature. Remember when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing you have received... but only what you have given- a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.

-St. Francis of Assisi

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

-Steve Jobs

Maybe a little morbid for a birthday blog?
But you can't talk about life and birth without the distant thought that death is somewhere down the road. And the awareness of both are vital to making sure the time you get on this earth is lived as well as possible. You can't stop the clock.

This year I learned a lot about
-the book of Acts
-being beautiful
-curling my own hair
-Brentwood, Tennessee
-Apple products
-love
-the Jersey Shore
-the Bielski Otriad
-Queen Victoria
-gentleness
-waiting for the right time
-finding my joy in the Lord
-being alive

And you? For my birthday, if you wouldn't mind calling your parents, eating something that just makes you so glad, listening to a song on repeat a couple dozen times and hugging someone until it almost gets weird, that would be great.
Honestly, I love you guys.

25- you were great.
26- you're up.

Emphasis

2011-10-14T13:30:00.003-05:00

But the sweetest thing I've ever heard is

that I don't have to have the answers,

Just a little light to call my own.

Though it pales in comparison to the overarching shadows,

A speck of light can reignite the sun and swallow darkness whole.

-"Emphasis", Sleeping At Last

This week, I feel like I've gotten my groove back.
My creativity, the prodigal son, has returned at last and we're having a barbecue.
I have tons of books to read through, I have a solid playlist of music that keeps me company and everything I look at looks like a blank canvas ready for the painting.

And there are surely unanswered questions, projects that are unfinished.
It's not that I've forgotten about them.
It's not that those things aren't important to me.
There's just only so much you can do.
And I'll take the opportunities as they come.

The sweetest thing I've ever heard is that I don't have to have all the answers.
A speck of light can reignite the sun and swallow darkness whole.

a bright light

Is it Christmas time yet?

I have an unnatural love of glitter.

sparklers = yeah

a little light

Reignite the sun.

Reading List

2011-10-11T23:14:00.000-05:00

Right now my bedroom looks like a Borders (rest in peace, bookstore of my heart) with all the books stacked up by my door. Between Catalyst, some borrowed books from friends and stuff my boss gave me, I have a lot to catch up on.

I need all the books

An Hour On Sunday by Nancy Beach
Quitter by Jon Acuff
Erasing Hell by Francis Chan
You Lost Me by David Kinnaman
Roaring Lambs by Bob Briner
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Peter Pan by JM Barrie
Entre-Leadership by Dave Ramsey
Radical Together by David Platt
Gifted to Lead by Nancy Beach

Also need to buy...

Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie.

And I mean immediately.

What are you reading?

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-10-11T08:32:00.000-05:00

Folks- Fall has inspired me to make the most of the jolly seasons.
These are the Pinterest projects I'm looking forward to most.
I need to get started!

red velvet pancakes

Red Velvet Pancakes - for reals? Yes. Don't they look like they came right out of Whoville? Minus the brick of butter on top, I could eat these for every meal. And when I think of pancakes, I think of Ms. Grace Kathleen Schofield, so would you mind coming on down to the Music City already? It's pancake time, Grace.

postcard keepsakes

Postcard Keepsakes - I have so many beautiful postcards (again, mostly thanks to Grace) that I would LOVE to display in some way. This looks like an awesome way to accomplish that!

Christmas scripture banners

Christmas Scripture Banners - I love everything about this. Expect to find excessive amounts of these hanging all over our house. And maybe your house too. Things could get crazy.

paint-by-number lyrics

Paint-by-number Lyrics - Elsie Larson makes everything look lovable and hip. Even an outdated paint-by-numbers. Combine that with my love of words and we have a super simple DIY for me to work on one evening very soon.

pumpkin white hot chocolate

Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate - Does this need any explaining? I need this immediately.

What are you working on?
Where is your inspiration coming from?
Let's hear it!

Be Present.

2011-10-06T22:42:00.000-05:00

Be present.
You.
Read all the words I'm writing.
And not when you're watching TV, either.
Not when someone's trying to talk to you.
Not when you're thinking about work.
Or your to-do list.
Or that dumb thing you said earlier.
Stop it.
Listen to me.

Look around.

Experiencing Catalyst in Atlanta, GA today involved keeping myself from crying at least a dozen times and failing to stop the waterworks at least a dozen more times.
Because I was sitting on a mountain top?
Because Catalyst was a uniquely crafted event designed to manipulate my emotions?
I don't think so.
I think it's because the emphasis was on being present.
On turning off my phone and taking it out of my hand.
On just being fully present in the moment in which I was existing.

It's in those moments that I am aware of the earplugs I wear on a daily basis.
I am aware of the parts of my life that are gray-ed out and asleep.
...of all the hurt and need that exists locally and globally.
...of the fact that God has been patiently and graciously waiting for me to look Him in the eyes and go with Him. How can you not be moved by that? How can you walk out of an experience like that and stay the same?

When I am present, when I am not being distracted by the 1 million things that come my way every minute, God has this way of saying, "...well it's about time."
He makes me look around and I think, "What have I been doing? How did I get here?"
It's in those moments that I wake up and, Lord, can it make my heart hurt, but the process of healing leprosy isn't a pretty process... cutting out the dead, feelingless flesh 'til you hit something alive, 'til the pain lets you know what parts have survived.
Thank goodness something is still alive.

Be ready.
Be present.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-10-04T22:15:00.003-05:00

Crazy is what love does.

-Jay Strother

Can love really travel back in time and heal a broken heart? Was it our joined hands that finally lifted Maria's curse? I'd like to think so. But there are some things I know for certain: always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck, and fall in love whenever you can.

-Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock), "Practical Magic"

source

You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.

-Mr. Darcy, "Pride and Prejudice"

We are made of love and all the beauty stemming from it. We are made of love and every fracture caused by the lack of it.

-Sleeping At Last, "Needle and Thread"

I don't know if life is greater than death, but
love is greater than both.

-Isolde, "Tristan and Isolde"

source

In order to create, there must be a dynamic force and what force is greater than love?

-Igor Stravinsky

Love may be the last sanctuary for the idea that struggle can be rewarding.

-Jamie Tworkowski, To Write Love On Her Arms

source

It's obvious they have to fight within themselves to be more and more human and less and less animal like, but I think it's a worthy fight. It hurts to love but it's worth it. It wouldn't be so beautiful if you didn't have to die a little bit to create it.
Love has always cost pain.

-Lucy the dog (Donald Miller)

To live is like to love -- all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.

-Samuel Butler

source

What a grand thing, to be loved!

What a grander thing still, to love!

-Victor Hugo

Every day I put love on the line. There is nothing I am less good at than love. I am far better in competition than in love. I am far better at responding to my instincts and ambitions to get ahead and make my mark than I am at figuring out how to love another. I am schooled and trained in acquisitive skills, in getting my own way. And yet I decide, every day, to set aside what I can do best and attempt what I do very clumsily -- open myself to the frustrations and failures of loving, daring to believe that failing in love is better than succeeding in pride.

-Eugene Peterson, "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction"

This is the thing I am the least good at (besides Calculus).
Maybe if you, reader, will be a little less afraid, I will be too.

October Is For Fancy

2011-10-03T00:11:00.004-05:00

Guys, it's my birthday month.
My favorite season and month of the year.
The month of my favorite holiday - Halloween.
Things could hardly get better.

This month, we've decided, is for fancy things.
Give yourself a reason to be a little fancier than normal.
I have a friend named Suhashini who once told me

"You're never overdressed. Everyone else is underdressed."

She said this as she was putting on a prom dress to run a relay race.

And you can't argue with that.

So what fancy things will you be adding to your every day?

Maybe a fancy afternoon tea?

This is from the Banana Republic Mad Men collection.
Maybe you work at a gas station. No one says you can't dress fancy.

Nothing will make your fancy faster than a set of pearls.

A chandelier makes a room fancy.

Make a regular dinner more fancy with simple candles.

Make regular things fancy.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-09-27T06:30:00.000-05:00

"My personal tips are when you feel inspired, drop everything and work! Make inspiration a priority. This means that if you have a favorite band, a favorite magazine or a favorite blog, you make time for it, guilt free! Small breaks for inspiration are always worth it when followed by a good creative workday! Surround yourself with positive people in your life who love you and your work and make you feel really good about what you're doing. Avoid negative people during busy work times. Make friends with other artists you admire. This is a must! Friends in your industry will keep you inspired and challenged. Find a new obsession as often as you need to. Obsessions keep me so inspired. Find things that you can fancy that make your day and cause you to think a new direction."

-Elsie Larson, A Beautiful Mess

A new obsession?
You don't have to tell me twice.
Lately I've watched a LOT of movies.
Here are the ones that have absorbed me now or in the past.

-The Nightmare Before Christmas
-The Young Victoria
-Defiance
-Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
-The Brothers Bloom
-Peter Pan
-Pirates of the Caribbean 3
-Kingdom of Heaven
-The 13th Warrior
-Cirque du Freak
-Big Fish
-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
-Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

This means I watch them every day.
I listen to movie score every day.
I've spent time online researching writers and characters and backstories.
You've probably read TAFI posts featuring quotes from these movies.
And it wasn't until today that I realized how dramatically a movie that I'm stuck on can affect my mood (try watching "Defiance" for two weeks straight and tell me if you don't feel compelled to hide out in the woods), but they've also brought some periods of new direction and inspiration. Mazel tov.

What are you obsessed with right now?

Nightmare Before Christmas

Defiance

The Brothers Bloom

Kingdom of Heaven

(These are just the tip of the iceberg for me.)

Hello Fall

2011-09-22T08:23:00.001-05:00

This is my favorite season.
Halloween is my favorite holiday.
And these are what I think of when I think of Fall:

I love pumpkins so much.

Nightmare Before Christmas on repeat

Ghost tours and old houses. I don't get tired of them.

What says Halloween like 3 sister witches?

My mom and I are candy apple pros.

Wreaths and Fall leaves

And for all these reasons too.

What's your favorite part of Fall?

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-09-20T06:11:00.000-05:00

Start here:

Press play on this video and then read the rest of the quotes.

It is better to be a lion for a day

than a sheep all your life.

-Elizabeth Kenny

Boy, I got vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals.

-Butch Cassidy

I'd like to be more approachable,
not less weird.

-Chloe Sevigny, actress

No one ever hears positive internal voices. When you hear the voice in your head saying, "Who are you to do this? Who are you to do that?" just know it comes from the accuser. God never asks you, "who are you?"
He knows exactly who you are.

-Jon Acuff, NOW Conference 2011

Be yourself, don't take anyone's shit and never let them take you alive.

-Gerard Way, singer/musician

This is why

Why we fight.

Why we lie awake.

And this is why

This is why we fight.

When we die.

We will die

With our arms unbound.

-The Decemberists, "Why We Fight"

Now is your time.

Become.

Believe.

Try.

Walk closely with people you love and with other people who believe that God is very good and life is a grand adventure.

-Relevant Magazine, Dec 2010 issue

Only be strong an very courageous.

-Joshua 1:7

This Tuesday, my hope is that you are inspired to embrace how ridiculous you are. That this Tuesday you would let what make you excellent be the thing you stop keeping under wraps.

For just one moment this weekend I felt the true weight of deciding you don't care when someone doesn't agree with or approve of or like your ideas.

And it was gone again because I'm not good at it yet.

But I was grateful for the reminder.

The reminder that I was made well.

And that I can't ever let them take me alive.

Go ahead and accept it, we are the outsiders.

And as Needtobreathe says, "you're free to roam on the outside."

That sounds so wonderful.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-09-13T06:45:00.000-05:00

"Our revenge is to live. We may be hunted like animals but we will not become animals. We have all chosen this - to live free, like human beings, for as long as we can. Each day of freedom is a victory. And if we die trying to live, at least we die like human beings."

- Tuvia Bielski

Alive.

I've been watching a LOT of "Defiance" lately. Translation: I've watched it every day for a week and a half now. When I get stuck on a movie, I have to watch it every day until I've bled the thing dry. I'm probably 50% done with this one.

The story features a group of Jews who have escaped certain death to hide out from the Nazis in the forest. Tuvia, the leader (as played by Daniel Craig) said, "our revenge is to live".

Our revenge is to live.
Each day of freedom is a victory.

Because every day is a fight and a battle to be alive and to survive everything you come up against the minute you open your eyes, against the world that would prefer if you stayed in your own little jail.

To live. It is our revenge. It is our simple act of defiance.

Today is Tuesday. May you have a little revenge today.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-09-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

The lucky finder

This is a story of an ordinary little boy named Charlie Bucket. He was not faster, or stronger, or more clever than other children. His family was not rich or powerful or well-connected; in fact, they barely had enough to eat. Charlie Bucket was the luckiest boy in the entire world. He just didn't know it yet.

-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

From the whiniest girl on the face of this earth to the reader of this blog:
This week I have been angry/sad/annoyed about all sort of things.
What I don't have.
Who I haven't heard from.
How unproductive I've been.

Then I had a word vomit of all the things I'd been thinking and being upset over with Erin.
She said, "if we can't take it now, things aren't going to get any easier."
If I'm crying and complaining about the state of things as they are in Nashville, Tennessee, how can I expect to be trusted with anything bigger?
And maybe I'm the luckiest girl in the entire world.
I just don't know it yet.

September Is Still For Ladies

2011-09-01T23:05:00.001-05:00

A year ago I declared September was for ladies.
The next day I wrote a retraction.

But it was okay because the fire had already been started.
My friends and I spent the year declaring a theme for each month.
And now we're back.

source

So what does it mean?
"September is for ladies" is a weird sentence to read.
It means you should celebrate the women in your life.
It means you should take the opportunity to spend quality time with the gals.
It means giving yourself 30 days to thoroughly enjoy the perks of lady-dom.

Should you avoid boys altogether as I'd originally planned last September?
Well that's up to you. 30 days without boys is never a bad idea.
Unless you're moving and you need super strong people.

Ideas for things you can do this September:

1. Go get your nails done together. Insta-girly. Afterwards you can play MASH.
(Sidenote- I was looking for pictures of manicures for this blog. I was grossed out by seeing cuticles close up so I opted against it. Cuticles are sick.)

2. Have an ice cream party. Or a yogurt party if you're health conscious. Or a brownie chocolate syrup death-by-sugar sundae party. It's whatevs. Girls like to eat cookies or Rotel dip. So eat those together. Don't eat those things together. You know what I mean. If you don't, good luck.

3. Girly roadtrip. One time Erin, Arley, Lyd and I went to visit our favorite blogger. Boys don't like to take trips to the middle of nowhere for the sole purpose of visiting their favorite blogger, much less go with me to visit my favorite blogger. September is a good time to take advantage of the weather cooling off, the kids back in school, and visiting the bloggers you love. #NerdAlert

4. Start a club. Like a bible study. Or a book club. This makes September last a little longer. We've had art clubs. Project Runway clubs. Now we have a 555 Ladies Bible Study. Try something new. Spend some time each week hanging out with ladies. It's good for you.

Trudging

2011-09-01T00:59:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't written in two weeks.
Lately I've been consumed with trudging.
Just trudging along.
I've lost my motivation and my focus.
I'm just trudging now.

Wore out.

I don't even know what I need.
A nap?
A vacation?
A reality check?
A friend to tell me to stop whining?
Maybe all of those.
Maybe just the last one.

Trudging will reveal a couple of things...
-How bad you want something.
-All the good reasons for jumping ship on the direction your headed.
-Who your real community is. No one wants to trudge with you just for trudge sake.
Just the ones who mean what their words say. And those are the only ones that matter.

Hopefully this trudging is getting me somewhere.
I promise to be back soon with some real inspiration.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-08-16T06:12:00.000-05:00

source

A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.

-William G. Shedd

It's Tuesday so I hope you're being a little daring with your life.
Put all the options back on the table.
Maybe take even just five seconds to consider what could be if there wasn't an off limits for your life direction. Maybe you'll move to Alaska. Maybe you'll realize you need to stay right where you are.
Hm.

Adventures In The Windy City

2011-08-14T23:29:00.002-05:00

Right now I'm in Chicago, which is crazy enough as it is because I am self-admittedly obsessed with anything involving Al Capone and the mafia of the 1940s. (What am I not obsessed with? you might be asking yourself. Sports, organic food, and electric cars to start.) But today I wanted to remember everything not just because I'm here in the Windy City and that's freaking awesome enough, but because one day I want to tell my children my most favorite parts:

1. Trains are awesome. Not having a car is mostly awesome. (I have no clue how people who don't listen to the radio find new music, though.) One time your mom and her friend Mary bought themselves a 7-day metro card and in that time mastered the Chicago train system.

2. You think Monet paints good paintings, but wait until you see them in real life. Wait until you see those waterlilies up close and you can tell how thick the paint is. Wait until you are standing in front of Van Gogh's self portrait and you realize how beautiful it is and that you're standing about as far away from the canvas as Van Gogh was when he painted it. Wait until you see how big Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grand-Jatte by Georges Seurat really is and know what it's like to have something take your breath away.

3. The chocolate and peanut butter whoopie pies at The Corner Bakery are the best things I've ever had and if you're my child, a love for peanut butter and chocolate will certainly exist within you. Imagine a cloud and a brownie had a baby and that hybrid child was used as the pie part. Then they filled it with rare elven peanut butter made from magic and they sold it at The Corner Bakery. You will never be disappointed.

4. Once, I walked from the 200 block to the 1600 block on Wells Ave in flat sandals and at the end of it, wished I could cut my legs off at the knees, but it was worth it. We passed Gino's Pizza East, we made lots of jokes about Mario and Luigi, and then we walked right up to Second City and went in.

5. Know that I was so scared and felt so little and like such a little baby who snuck in the back door. Know that people who think they're funny so they have to act funny all the time are annoying. Know that watching my first Second City show was the coolest thing I'd ever done because I knew I could do what they were doing on the stage, too. Then know I found a much shorter train route home to our hotel in the weirdest part of town. Know that the hotel we stayed in smelled like a dirty litter box, but it was free, so we loved it.

And if one day my children read this, know that I love you, one day I'll bring you to Chicago myself, and you shouldn't be cussing in public, even if you're just retelling a joke you heard somewhere.

Literally just thick smatherings of paint done beautifully.

Second City

Riding trains at night.

Big buildings = wind tunnels

Amazing.

Van Gogh did this. Paint so thick, you can see the brush strokes even from a picture, Seth.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-08-09T08:17:00.000-05:00

I'm not getting old.

I'm getting new.

-Elliott Worley, age 2

The atmosphere is changing.

Oh, can you hear the people rising up

In the hope of Your freedom?

Our former ways are breaking.

We seek Your face, God,

Let Your kingdom come,

In our praises, be lifted up.

"Your Name High" - Hillsong

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

Now it springs forth,

Do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert.

-Isaiah 43:19

A new thing is happening around here and it is terrifying and wonderful at the same time.

This Tuesday is for being new.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-08-02T08:45:00.000-05:00

Recently, it's comes to my attention that growing and moving means a certain amount of dying has to happen. There is a measure of giving up that has to happen. And so here we go.
This Tuesday, may you be ready to let go and may you be pleasantly surprised by the possibilities that arise when you do.

sinking in.

To live,

it means in seasons

I must die.

-SBG

We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned, so we can have the life that's waiting for us.

-unknown

We can exhaust ourselves by seeking significance in what we do and how we are known, hoping that we will be remembered after we are gone. Or, we can lay our lives on God's altar; squandering them in the world's eyes, but entrusting our legacy to our Maker.

-John Piper

"I replied, 'But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.

Yet I leave it all in the Lord's hand;

I will trust God for my reward.'"

-Isaiah 49:4

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

-Gandalf the Gray

I feel only gratitude for my life, for every moment I have lived. I am ready to go. I have seen so many miracles during my lifetime. Never once did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder, and He gave it to me.

-Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-07-26T08:16:00.000-05:00

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.

-Albert Einstein

The world would burst at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "NO"- they may to be smart enough to say "yes".

-Keith Olberman, MSNBC

We often get so caught up in being our own worst critic that we forget to be our own biggest fan.

-Kaelah Beauregarde, blogger

To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight.
Never stop fighting.

-EE Cummings, author

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a gift... It is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any other qualification I ever earned.

-JK Rowling (2008 Commencement address)

Don't forget: sometimes people are dumb, but that is neither your problem to dwell on nor your responsibility to remedy. You keep working hard on the good things that fill your dreams day and night.

Gentleness

2011-07-20T12:10:00.000-05:00

gentle.

I was going to write this whole long blog post.
It was pretty crazy. Be glad I deleted it.
It was an overly wordy way of me saying "folks, be gentle."
Be gentle when you're dealing with people who are pissing you off.
Be gentle when you are dealing with friends who know better.
Be gentle when you are dealing with people who don't.

In the ESV version of the Bible, there are 27 verses that use the word "gentle" in some form.
Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit but, let me tell you, it's one I've had to labor over to get to grow.
And I think it's a fruit we don't always think of first.
Love. Joy. Patience. Even self control.
But gentleness?

I feel like it's at least once a day that God has to remind me to be gentle, that it's a package deal.
If I love and I have joy but I beat people up with my words or a mean face or the cold shoulder, it's all undone.

What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?
1 Corinthians 4:21

Wednesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-07-20T07:28:00.000-05:00

Simpson wisdom

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.

-Henry Ellis

I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known.

-Chuck Palahnuik

Any given moment can change your life.

You just have to be there.

-unknown

I myself am made entirely from flaws, stitched together with good intentions.

-Augusten Burroughs, author

You don't reproduce what you want.

You reproduce what you are.

-Aaron Keyes, musician

We get to be the ones who help others find alternative endings for their lives.

-Bob Goff, Restore Intl

I cannot limit my values and pursuits to what makes others comfortable. Being possessed by a promise, I live without options. I will spend the rest of my life exploring what could happen through the life of one who is willing to cultivate the God-given appetite to see impossibilities bow to the name of Jesus. All my eggs are in one basket. There is no 'plan B'. And it is from this posture that I live.

-Bill Johnson

So what kind of life will you live?
And what is your life made of?

Controlling the Reaction

2011-07-19T21:32:00.001-05:00

I was at a last-minute roundtable session for people who work in a similar capacity.
We talked about the idea of worship curating and a new approach to looking at worship services. It was really far more excellent than I could've imagined.

Something big I took away from this (and you might think I'm crazy but, it was really pretty life-changing for me) was when we talked about the fact that

you can't control a person's reaction.

What does that mean?

When an art gallery curator sets up a display, they are taking work and setting it up for an audience. When that audience comes through, there's no way to make every person love the art. There is no way to force every person to understand the artist's perspective. You make the art. You put it out there.

I got that good art.

This has made all the difference to me when I'm dreaming up ideas, whether it be for our worship services, or for my writing projects for film. I have to be true to the vision in my gut and trying to anticipate and compensate for every conceivable reaction to those dreams will kill you.
There's a lot more freedom in creating when you are okay with the fact that everyone might not get it.

So if you haven't written because you don't think everyone will like your writing, let me go ahead and let you know that everyone will NOT like your writing. I promise you. Does that mean you shouldn't do it? And have you considered the people who might LOVE your writing?

Just a thought.

(Thanks Mark Pierson).

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-07-19T06:07:00.000-05:00

Here's to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Not every fight is between good and evil.

Most are between good enough and best.

-Bob Goff

Elena: Were you looking for something?

Zorro: A sense of the miraculous in everyday life.

-Mask of Zorro

There are no ordinary people.

You have never talked to a mere human.

-CS Lewis

The real job of creative people is to make the ordinary extraordinary.

-Saul Bass

Don't forget to keep your eyes open.

Don't forget that today is Tuesday.
And anything can happen on a Tuesday.

Mondays Are For Inspiration

2011-07-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

big and small

When you affirm big, believe big, and pray big, putting faith into action, big things happen.

-Norman Vincent Peale

I've tried to phase out the term "big things" from my vocabulary.

I think people only aim for the big things and refuse to do the little things.

Then they don't understand why big things don't happen.

Everyone wants to be the author or the movie star or the President or the one who is the hero for dropping the ring in Mordor. Less people want to do the little things it takes to get there.

But in this instance, I like what Norman Vincent Peale has to say, especially the part about putting faith into action. It's the only thing separating small or big things from small or big reality.

Stories

2011-07-16T22:55:00.000-05:00

Things you need to know that explain why I'm writing this blog:
1. I just saw the last Harry Potter movie. I am a little listless as a result. Did I know how it was going to end? Yes. I read the book. It's just closure on 13 years of investment. That can be a little emotional.
2. Today I was talking to my friend Seth about writing scripts. He used the term "idea machine". I'd like to think that quality might exist with me.

What kind of people are idea machines?
Wendy. From Peter Pan. I think she was a good example of an idea machine. But I think a more primal way of saying that is Wendy was a storyteller. Real storytellers won't run out of stories because they can be about anything.
I am a storyteller.

stories.

I don't like stories about space, because I'm afraid of space (really, I'm afraid of suffocating).
I don't like stories that chronicle long, unredemptive lives (don't bother watching "Blue Valentine?).
I don't like stories about horses or dogs. (Black Beauty? I don't care about you.)

And what kind of stories do I like?
-I like stories where what we don't imagine to be real confronts reality and makes the listener say "Wait, is this happening somewhere and I don't know about it?"

-I like stories where the hero has to make a sacrifice, because I don't think a lot of us know what that looks or feels like these days, that some sacrifices are permanent, that some things are irreplaceable, that sometimes you just have to live with a decision. I think that knowledge makes people think more carefully.

-I like stories that, even after a thousand words, a thousand more wouldn't be enough.

-My favorite stories are the ones that make you different afterward, even if it's only in the slightest of ways.

Those are the kind of stories I want to tell.
Those are the kind of stories I want to live.

And you? What kind of stories do you like?

Go, Go Gryffindor!

2011-07-14T11:14:00.000-05:00

You can buy this for me here

This shouldn't be a secret at all.
I love Harry Potter.
I've been reading the books since the 8th grade and they had me at Wingardium Leviosa.
It's no secret I want an office that looks like Dumbledore's, a house that looks like the Gryffindor Common Room and to be sorted into the Gryffindor House.
Thus, Friday will be a pretty significant day for my friends and I as we say goodbye to Harry, Ron & Hermione, apparating, trips to the Burrow, garden trolls, Buckbeak and all the Malfoys.

So, good work JK Rowling. You've brought a world into existence.
Few will know the true labor of such a work.

As for everyone else, keep calm and hold hands.

The end.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-07-12T11:22:00.000-05:00

Guys, it's the 1 year anniversary of Tuesdays Are For Inspiration.
Crazy.
Thanks for all the words of inspiration you've sent my way.
Thanks for sending words of inspiration to your own friends and followers.

So this is an extra special edition dedicated to the storyteller, the people who use words to change reality.

source

No story lives unless someone wants to listen. The stories we love best do live in us forever.

-JK Rowling

It is an ancient need to be told stories. But the story needs a great storyteller.

-Alan Rickman

A storyteller

We are the stories we tell ourselves.

-Shekhar Kapur, director

I was a kid who allowed these world and stories to really exist, to really tell me what the world was like.. or more accurately...

what the world could be like.

-Seth Worley, Director (on growing up loving movies)

source

Part of me wonders if our stories aren't being stolen by the easy life.

-Donald Miller, author

Some stories are true that never happened.

-Elie Wiesel

source

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

To-Do List

2011-07-09T20:58:00.000-05:00

listy-list

Currently, this is my to-do list:

Build a table like the one seen in Sirius Black's house in Order of the Phoenix. I'm going to need Aaron Sapp's help, for realsies.
Write a pilot for a television series.
I want to remove the desk and out-dated PC from our dining room and replace it with more seating so family dinner can accommodate more family.
Continue de-cluttering my life- closets, keepsakes, the stuff under my bed.

That's my summer list.

What do you have on the docket?

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-07-05T11:36:00.001-05:00

You shall not pass.

I am not afraid of anything in this world.

There's nothing you can throw at me that I haven't already heard.

-"Stuck In A Moment" - U2

Today's inspiration - maybe it's because U2 was in town? It's more likely because I've been reading "The Last Apprentice" and watching Harry Potter over and over again.

I've said these lyrics to myself more times than I can count.
It's interesting how fear works.
It can make you stop moving.
It can blind you.
It can render you useless.
And not that there aren't scary things. If you don't think that everyday is a fight, you're wrong.
But if you don't keep going, even when you are terribly and entirely afraid, you'll stay exactly where you are.

And as a Christian, I know that at the end of the day, the hope I have allows me to say I am not afraid of anything in this world.

Update Times.

2011-07-02T01:52:00.000-05:00

I've been so bad about blogging.
For my reasoning, just know that the other night I closed a book to go take a shower and as soon as I'd had the thought, I immediately fell asleep. Lights on. Book in my hand.
JEANS STILL ON.
Erin was worried when I woke up.
So, exhaustion.

So let's do a quick update.
For those of you I've never met before, hello!
For those of you I have, there's a good chance you're someone I adore.

I realized recently that I only get forehead wrinkles on the right side of my forehead.
I go to the beach next week. FINALLY. One day, I'll be an old lady who makes art out of driftwood I find outside of my beach home. Yep. It's a promise.
I have two dogs, Roman and Ripley. They are the funniest two creatures I've seen since Dunston checked in. Roman likes sci-fi movies. Ripley likes kissing boys.
My family lives in Florida. I live in Nashville. We have an 11 hour drive between us. I used to like driving. Now my hips hurt after 9 minutes of being in the car. It was my first sign of old age.
My dad is from Honduras. He's a Mayan. That makes me a Mayan. Guess what? 2012 is my year.
If you need to find me during the day, I'm probably at Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, Tennessee. I'm the Production Coordinator. You can find me because I'm easily the loudest person in the whole building, that includes the preschoolers. But, in my defense, there isn't a designated time for listening to Phil Collins. Can I get an amen?
I am a comedy writer. How? I write comedy. I write it for me. Sometimes I get lucky enough to write it for other people. I write when no one pays me to. I write when people do. I work hard. And one day, I might have the privilege of writing jokes that you'll laugh at while never realizing they were mine.
Fine. I like "Who says?" by Selena Gomez. FINE. I listen to it a lot.
I can remember things, mostly things you'd hoped I'd forget. Sorry. What day of the week is it? You're on your own with that one.
Sitting in Transformers tonight, I realized my brothers were infinitely cooler as children than I could ever hope to catch up to, even as an adult. Most of the really cool things I know and loved growing up were a result of them. And now that those things are coming back (Transformers, Thundercats, and if someone could get some Mario Brothers kicking again, I'd appreciate it), my little heart can enjoy them to their full extent. Thanks Josh and Austin.

Who says?

Who says you're not perfect?

Who says you're not worth it?

Who says you're the only one who's heard it?

Selena Gomez, you're alright in my book.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-06-28T10:28:00.000-05:00

source

Here is your inspiration to continue battling on today:

We all carry these thing inside that no one else can see. They hold us down like anchors, they drown us out at sea.

-Chelsea Smile, "Bring Me The Horizon"

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.

-Pope John Paul II

We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, but battle on.

-Albus Dumbledore

Hope is not about proving anything. It's... believing that love is bigger than any grim, bleak crap anyone can throw at us.

-Anne Lamott

A leader is a dealer in hope.

-Napoleon Bonaparte

Tis A Gift To Be Simple.

2011-06-23T00:09:00.000-05:00

Folks. I've just survived literally the worst time of my life.
Brothers being put in the hospital.
Dogs disappearing in the middle of the afternoon.
It was craziness.
But, despite it all, everything is okay.
Everything has been restored.
And if I know nothing else, I know the Lord gives and takes away.
But I do know one more thing.

Bed hog.

This, right now, is all I need.
I now understand the simple joy of waking up with two dogs and going to work at a job I don't hate and hanging out with people I really like. If I never fall in love, if I never tell another joke on another stage, if this is all there is in the cards for me, I will be more than okay.

Don't forget to appreciate the simple act of sleeping soundly through the night and waking up to your life being exactly how you'd expect it to be, because you don't always get that.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-06-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

If there was an award for worst 54 hours of my life, it would go to June 20th-21st hands down.
After a 1 AM phone call about my brother being put in the hospital after being beat up in a parking lot by five guys and Erin calling to tell me Roman was missing (which he proceeded to stay missing til the next morning), I can say I've done more crying than I have in my entire life combined.

It's okay to be sad, but it's also okay to rejoice. Everything that was lost, everything that was hurt is back and was protected. Now I cry because I'm grateful.
And with that, your inspiration.

Crying does not indicate that you're weak. Since birth, it has always been a sign that you're alive.

-Unknown

I do not say "Do not weep."

For not all tears are an evil.

-Gandalf

In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.

-Albert Camus

Remember to turn on the light.

Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

-Albus Dumbledore

Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

-Psalm 30:4-5

Confessions of a Not So Pretty Girl

2011-06-18T20:19:00.000-05:00

Secret confession: I LOVE fashion blogs.
I love learning about eye make up and the best ways to put on lipstick.
I could look at pictures of outfits all day long.

Favorites right now:
The Sartorialist
Keiko Lynn

Truth be told, I'm not good at dressing myself, at putting on makeup. When it comes to being pretty, I usually feel like the clumsy dancer who can't duplicate the dance moves her teacher is doing right in front of her. But I still try and I still love it.

__________________________________________________________

One summer I worked as a videographer in Greenville, SC. It was in the middle afternoon and I was in yet another nursing home. I was standing next to a resident, a woman who looked as tired as I did. She made some comment about one of the pretty girls in the group. I just agreed - I, on the other hand, looked like someone had hit me with a wet mop.

"You too," she said. "You have those eyes."

I still think about that a lot. My eyes have always been my favorite part of me. There's really nothing special about them. They're brown. They're little, but they were always the part of me that made me feel like a lady. I knew that but no one else had ever seen it, until that tired lady in a nursing home.

That's something that sticks with you- when someone sees something in you that only you've ever seen before.

__________________________________________________________

Here's the thing. Every girl knows what she doesn't like about herself. I can tell you that there was a time in my life where my every thought was about those things. I'm to a place now where every day I like what I see more. I'm grateful for that. Half the battle is being brave enough to recognize what you like about yourself - whether or not anyone else ever does - your lopsided smile, the natural way your hair parts, your chin. Then one day, when you least expect it, the people you plan on blessing end up blessing you.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-06-14T06:41:00.000-05:00

Magic.

And above all, watch with glittery eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.

-Roald Dahl

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, Begin it! Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

-Goethe

Creative work only seems like a magic trick to people who don't understand that its ultimately still work.

-Merlin Mann

There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved. It's God's finger on man's shoulder.

-Charles Morgan

Dragons.

Time to talk.

2011-06-10T01:32:00.000-05:00

Today my schedule did not go as planned.
Actually, my only plan was to go to the gym but that plan got high-jacked over and over.

My boss wanted me to check out a space for a creative meeting...

...it was AWESOME.

A friend came by my office to grieve...

...she ended up comforting me.

Another friend needed to talk about work...

...but, really she just needed to be reminded of how capable she was.

Another friend showed up from out of state...

...I always miss him when he's gone.

I saw two friends I haven't seen in months even though they live no more than 5 miles away...

...at this point everything else is just whip cream.

One friend told me a crazy story that might be a miracle...

...God can make things happen at Starbucks.

And now I'm spending time with these dogs because I haven't been home before 9 this whole week. We're watching Hoarders. (Anything that keeps them from growing up to be hoarders, I'm in favor of.)

source

So apparently I just needed to listen.

And be reminded of how lucky I am to have good people in my life.
I am lucky, lucky, lucky.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-06-07T06:55:00.000-05:00

For those of us who are having a terrible time waiting, who are having trouble being still, who are find it harder and harder to believe in the impossible:

To Wherever

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promises, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you.

2 Peter 3:9

Soon we must all face the difficult choice between what is right and what is easy.

-Albus Dumbledore

God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.

AW Tozer

I know. It's horrible that we want more than what Jesus has for us. That's what makes us in need of His grace. But we can recognize that and believe in what He has planned for us.

-Grace Schofield

"There is no use trying," said Alice.
"One can't believe impossible things."

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for a half hour a day. Why sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Down the rabbit hole.

Truths Of A Creative Life

2011-06-05T22:17:00.001-05:00

Here is the best advice I've received so far / figured out by trial and error for those of you who think "I really want to be a (insert awesome thing here)" but aren't there yet.

Impossible Things

Your passion is your responsibility. I'm 99.9% sure the owner of a successful art gallery isn't going to show up at your house and make sure you paint an award winning painting because they "know you have it in you." If you want to be a painter, paint. It's your job to work hard to develop your skills and talent, no one else's.
"If you won't do something part time, you won't do it full time." This was something Jon Acuff talked about once. People want to quit their job to be, let's say, a writer. You ask, "how much are you writing currently?" "None." What magical thing do you think will happen as soon as you quit your job? What will automatically give you writing discipline and an invested audience? Nothing. You want to be a writer? Start writing. That's the biggest step. Write, even if it's just for 5 people. Then keep writing. Get better. The day you honestly say to yourself, "my day job is the only thing holding me back from taking this growing beast of a hobby to the next level," that's the time to re-evaluate.
When you're collaborating or working on something for someone else, you owe it to them to do your best work even if you don't love the idea. I had a friend who was helping me with a project. He would've approached what we were doing differently, but instead of giving my idea a chance, he just went at it with as little effort as possible. Everything was 25% of what I'd actually hoped to capture. I don't work with him anymore. There are infinite ways you can approach telling a story, so it doesn't make it wrong if it's not what you would've come up with. If a team is not going your route, and their idea fails, let it be because you gave it as good of a chance as humanly possible. If it succeeds, even better. And people won't think you're a toolbag.
Figure out how you work best. Maybe it's with music playing. Maybe it's early in the morning. For me, to get my best work done I need no music, no Twitter, nothing. A desk. That's it. Can I work in a coffee shop? Yes. Can I work with the TV on? Yes. But I owe it to myself to know how I work best and to try and create that situation as often as possible, especially if I'm working on something important. Creating requires a certain measure of imagining, which can't happen to it's full extent if you're also watching 16 & Pregnant.

The moral of the story will always be that talent, art, creativity will always require hard work if you want it to go anywhere. It will demand you be a better human than you started out because you have to develop discipline, humility, bravery and commitment, among other things.

You aren't known as one of the best composers of all time because your last name is Mozart. It's because you can play the hell out of a harpsichord.

Waiting.

2011-06-01T08:23:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was talking with a friend about being patient and waiting.
She's being a lot more graceful about it than I would be. The waiting.
And right now she is being faithful in waiting.
She is one of the bravest and best humans I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Sometimes you gotta crap or get off the pot.

However, it brought up another thought.
I don't know if it's my generation or just the place where I live or just the people I know, but sometimes I think we're in a constant state of waiting. Always waiting because the really good thing, the "best" that God has been promising is probably right around the corner.
And so what happens is we are never fully committed: to this job, to these friends, to the things that are good right in front of us.

There was a parable of ten virgins. Their groom told him he was coming back, that they needed to stay ready because it could be anytime, day or night. The story culminates when he actually comes back. 5 were ready, 5 were not. Those girls were patiently waiting, always one eye on the horizon, for who knows how long, but then the moment came, the groom arrived, and they went. The 5 who were left came back to find the others gone. Because eventually the waiting ends.

Moral of this story: If there is a season of waiting, there will be a season of motion. It's okay to ask "Is this it? Is this where I'm supposed to jump?" Sometimes we live like waiting is all there will ever be. Learning to wait is a gift I wish I'd already developed. There's a lot to learn and do in the waiting, but don't forget that one day it'll actually be time to go and do. It might be now.

Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-05-31T06:50:00.000-05:00

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For years I dreamed of having the sort of massive oak slab that would dominate a room... In 1981 I got the one I wanted and placed it in the middle of a spacious, skylighted study in the rear of the house. For six years I sat behind that desk either drunk or wrecked out of my mind...

A year or two after I sobered up, I got rid of that monstrosity and put in a living-room suite where it had been... In the early nineties, before they moved on to their own lives, my kids sometimes came up in the evening to watch a basketball game or a movie and eat pizza... I got another desk- it's handmade, beautiful, and half the size of the T. rex desk. I put it at the far west end of the office, in a corner under the eave...

I'm sitting under it now, a fifty-three-year-old man with bad eyes, a gimp leg and no hangover. I'm doing what I know how to do, and as well as I know how to do it. I came through all the stuff I told you about... and now I'm going to tell you as much as I can about the job...

It starts with this: put you desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn't in the middle of the room. Life isn't a support-system for art. It's the other way around.

-Stephen King, On Writing

Your fears.

2011-05-25T00:12:00.000-05:00

If Fear took the SATs, it would get a perfect score because it always knows the right answers.
But we have to stay focused.
And ignore the things it whispers.

So make your siren's call
And sing all you want-
I will not hear what you have to say.

Because I need freedom now,
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be.
-Mumford & Sons, "The Cave"

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Tuesdays Are For Inspiration

2011-05-24T07:08:00.000-05:00

This is the advice I needed to hear today:

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We must motivate ourselves to do our very best, and by our example, lead others to do their best as well.

-Truett Cathy, Chick Fil A founder

He rescued me because He delighted in me.

-2 Samuel 22:20

You are called by God to do something bigger than yourself. And it's supposed to scare you.

-Ergun Caner

You don't need a microphone to be heard,
on TV to be seen, or applause to be significant.
Learn truth, labor hard, love people.

-LeCrae

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Love may be the last sanctuary for the idea that struggle can be rewarding.

-Jamie Tworkowski, To Write Love On Her Arms

I read somewhere how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong.

-Chris McCandless "into The Wild"

For without being touched by what comes our way, there is no chance of being winded by beauty or deepened by suffering.

-unknown

The will to live will always outweigh the ability to die.

-unknown

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In Memorium.

2011-05-22T00:30:00.000-05:00

There's this story in Joshua where Joshua (duh) leads the Israelites across the Jordan River (kind of like that time with the Israelites and the Red Sea. God is about moving some water.)
God instructs Joshua to have the heads of each tribe take a stone from the middle of the river to make a monument with when they camp that night.
It's a reminder.
The Israelites had crossed the Red Sea and had gone back to whining.
This time they were crossing the flooded Jordan River, and they were going to remember the miracle. They were going to use stones to build a monument.
A monument that would be there as long as it would stand.
When they forgot, when the story of crossing on dry land started to fade and seem more like a fairytale, it'd still be there.

Here lies a reminder.

My first summer of camp, my staff did that.

We took rocks from the river behind the camp in Colorado and built a monument on the other side. It was to remind us of the amazing things our God did that summer.

It was to remind us that we worked hard and struggled, but we survived.

It was to remind us that this was real.

My pastor in Orlando once told us a story about his wife.
She struggled for a long time as a young adult with that quintessential question of "am I saved? Was this conversion experience real for me?"
Her husband (who wasn't her husband at the time) suggested she make her decision and carve the date into a tree. It wasn't going anywhere. It was a testament. Even if she doubted later, she could see the carving and remember that this was real, this happened.

Sometimes the biggest enemy to the God-apparent work happening in our lives is that we forget.
It starts to seem like a dream.
I don't think it was an accident that God asked the Israelites to make a monument.
We're humans and we need that.

Maybe you need to build.
That promise you keep forgetting.
That thing you keep doubting.
That thing you can't believe is real.
It's time to build.

A monument.

Joshua 1:1-7
When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, "Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, 'Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.'" Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever."