To be human

Audio too!

Hi friends!

It’s November! Cue chillier weather, apple cider, and lots of pumpkin pie.

We got to enjoy pumpkins and deer and time outdoors this past week and that was so fun.

Thought I’d send a little love and peace to you and yours as you enter into this next week. May we all remember God holds us and is with us and will never leave us, even as the world turns round and round and seems mixed up.

I wanted to share something a little different today. Some spoken words for you all in the audio below!

I’ve been thinking lately and talking to wise people about my love of storytelling, the joy of sharing my journey with others and trying to spread hope and realness even while things are still messy, while we’re still in the middle. Maybe before the dawn has broken, if you will.

Here’s what I came up with you for today:

I know it’s one of those potentially fear-inducing weeks in America, but I rarely write about anything political. Instead, I write stories about my baby, how he survived, how we survived. They’re usually very personal. I write about dreams, creativity, friendship, noticing and celebrating the everyday even amidst chaos, faith, pain, and the list goes on and on.

I decided with the way a lot of people must be feeling this week, it could help to have some calm words wash over us. I decided to write what would help me remember what it’s like to be human, in a strange but beautiful world.

This got me thinking about my other passions and what I hope to do with this Substack and some of the other ways I like to incorporate storytelling and words in my life.

Do you ever stop and think what you want to do? Maybe in the middle of the mess in the world, we can ask ourselves, “what are the things we are being called into?”

Here’s where I am.

What I want to do:

In addition to being wife and mom (my loves), my hope as time goes on is to continue providing a place of space and peace for others. To stand in the gap for those who need it even if I’m not working as much 1-1 with people as I used to when I mainly focused on counseling. Praying that I can start to focus more broadly on bringing messages of hope and stories to those who need to hear them, whether it be here writing or at speaking events as God opens doors.

How you can support me if you choose:

I want to keep writing here, playing with different formats of collecting words to form a book. I want something I can hold in my hand and spread awareness for lovelies like my baby, Sammy. I want to help others in the same way people have helped us with our last couple turbulent years of the medical journey we’ve been on (read more of my substack to find out details!). I would like to bear witness to others who are grieving a scary diagnosis in utero or after or who need to know they’re going to be okay. I’m still in the initial stages of working this out; but the dreamer I am cannot do this alone. Thanks for coming alongside me on the journey. Feel free to share with others. Subscribe for free or be a paid subscriber to help support my family and my art.

Thanks for all the love!

See below for the written word going along with my audio:

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To be human is to love your dog a little too much

To forget someone’s name

To have wild handwriting

To be human is to give grace

But forget to give it to yourself

To be human is to climb a tree

Or plant one

To be human is to love something

To create

To start again

To be human is to write the same to-do list over and over

To turn the page of the calendar and wonder what happened to the last

To be human is to try something new

Like poetry or finger painting

To be inspired by others

Who showed you it’s okay to be a beginner

To be human is to miss someone

To want to give up

To wonder if it’s the final hour

To be human is to skip rocks

And skip school maybe once

To be human is to steal your husband’s sweatshirt

To laugh at yourself

To cozy up inside comfort

And receive love

To be human

Is to notice someone grieving

To hold out your hand

Hike the long trail with them

To be human is to light a candle

And pray for peace on earth

To be human is to need help

To be human is to have times where socks don’t match

To lose a favorite necklace

And celebrate finding it again

Along with your keys

To be human is to climb a mountain

And notice the One who made it

To be human is to walk around the house writing

In the deep dark of the night

Because it’s been too long

To be human is to ask yourself

Are the dishes clean or dirty

To make some noise

To dust off your bowling shoes

If you know how to bowl

Or even if you don’t

To be human is to ask for forgiveness

To forgive

Try

again

To be human is to be a grandmother

To give more than your years say you should

To be human is to read the same book over and over

To remind you you’re not alone

To be human is to enjoy a good slice of pizza

To be human is to be in a hospital room

When time stands still

And you wear the same clothes every day

But all that matters is the the one you love

To be human is to be afraid

To want to belong

To care too much

Sometimes too little

To be human is too many decisions

To decide yellow or chocolate are good answers for most things

To be human is too much sugar over the holidays

It is songs of joy to the world

To be human is to be a kid

Playing hide and seek with an imaginary friend

Who was never imaginary

To be human is to spring to life when you meet a friend for tea

Seeing someone different than you

Meeting them where they are

To be human

Is to be a brother

To protect

And need protecting

To be human is to find your memories

Soothing

And sometimes frightening

To human be gentle with yourself as you go

To be human is to change

To hide

Then emerge again

To be human is to lose your way

And be gifted with faith

To be human is to get caught in the rain

To have the lights go out

To mark the storms that happened

Where you survived

To be human is to be imperfect

To have a crooked painting

To have crumbs everywhere

To be human is to find a bench

To swing

To porch sit

To be human is to have more to say

And every time you think the poem is over it is not

To be human is to watch the light on the path

To wait for it

Again and again

When it’s almost impossible to see

Too dark to go on

To be human is to wait for that one moment

of light.