Life is abundant
& you are here to risk your heart.
I included this quote in my last Jump + Pray:
The question is not who influences you, the question is what people give you courage. — Hilary Mantel
I’m curious: who are the people that give you courage?
Writer, Anne Lamott, has been one of those people for me. Her early books gave me heaps of courage — specifically Bird by Bird and Traveling Mercies. The budding artist/creator/writer in me devoured these books. They made my creative desires seem not only possible, but probable. If she can do it, I can do it.
Anne tells one story in particular that has stuck with me — maybe you’ve heard it. She writes about how her brother was once overwhelmed by a huge school project on birds. Their father’s simple yet profound advice was to take it “bird by bird,” or one small step at a time.
This is how everything gets done, isn’t it?
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The other day I sent a text — to a person I had met over a year go. I liked her and at the time we’d said we’d grab coffee, but never did. I like to say it’s never too late to be who you might have been. And so, a year later, I sent a text and asked her to hang.
We met up at my favorite cafe in town. We split a olive oil loaf and spitballed on everything from plays we wanted to see to books we’d read/wanted to read to workshops we dreamed of teaching. Then she invited me to a water aerobics class - something I never saw myself doing.
One class.
I said yes.
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Last month I hung a hummingbird feeder in my yard. It took the birds some time to find it, but this week they finally did. Not only did they find it, they’re fighting over it. Scarcity mentality, I guess? They don’t realize that I will fill the feeder again and again, whenever it goes dry. They don’t realize that there will always be enough for everyone, all the time.
What if Someone is watching out for us like this?
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Even though I have my doubts like any human, if I dig down deep enough, I believe that life is abundant. And that I am here to risk my heart. That you are here to risk your heart. To be who you might have been, to have faith that the feeder will aways be full. And when things feel like too much, because no doubt there will be times when they do, to take it one bird at a time.
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5 things
Do it for the joy of it
Check out these photogram vibes
Take a course to help you make creative leaps
Buy a pack of collage paper (and make a collage)
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It is my hope, both with this newsletter and with everything I create, that:
it will be a boon to you,
it will help you cultivate your relationship with your inner aliveness &
it will inspire you to tap into and use the creativity you have to create the life that you want!
Thank you so much for being here.
Jump + Pray,
Joce
YOU give me courage! 😁