Everything people say to you isn't meant to stay with you. But sometimes, you receive a word that you weren't expecting and it settles in a way you can't ignore.
Open your mind
I pray that you listen
Go get your digits
You're running outta time
The clock keeps ticking
Complete the mission, go
- from "Fungus (feat. K. Solar, Scott Kelley, and Steve Lacy)" by Tru
Someone once told me that God doesn't always use the church or your pastor to talk to you. And, despite how much I would want Him to, God doesn't just call your phone or come through the speaker of your car to tell you what He wants you to hear.
Sometimes God uses other people to speak to you — to speak into you.
And I know when it's God talking because I feel it. Even if it's in a completely different context, I hear exactly what I needed to receive. The words land in my ear and stick around. The words make haste to rest in my heart. They hit kind of hard, and I just feel their weight, heavy and unmoving and unavoidable. They demand to be heard, to be reckoned with in the moment. I've never been the one to argue with God.
So I'd like to share some words I've heard recently and what each of them has taught me. I hope something here resonates with you as well :)
I was holding a 40-second plank (s/o to months of lagree for making this feel super easy lol) when my rowing class instructor yelled this out over the speakers. He was reiterating the importance of core strength; encouraging us to build our abdominal muscles, the muscular foundation of our bodies.
But what I heard from that was build your foundation, as in the very foundation that your life rests upon. Earlier that very day, I was feeling pressure that I hadn't achieved all that I wanted to. But at that moment, I realized I was so focused on preparing to incorporate all of the lovely things I want into my life that I hadn't taken a similar amount of time to focus on my foundation.
How was I going to have a home, a partner, a dog, a generous travel calendar, a white long-range Tesla Model Y, a kayak, a blossoming social life, and all the other things I was actively praying to God for if I had not even taken the time to reflect on the foundation supporting it all?
It's not that the foundation of who I am isn't strong or is nonexistent, but I just haven't taken the time to focus on it, to make sure there aren't any cracks or weak points, and to identify where I can make it stronger. I hadn't even taken the time to ensure that all those things I listed would even be compatible with the foundation I was building for myself.
And it wasn't until my trainer said those words that this need dawned upon me. In order to achieve all the things I want to, I first must prepare my foundation to support the inevitable weight of the life I want to live.
That looks like reflecting on who I am at the very core of my person. What I value, what I need, what I want, what I say, what I do, what I believe, what I care about, what my habits are, how I treat people, and how I treat myself. Until I can be confident that all of those things are aligned, I find it out of order to layer on top of it any additional strain.
Ngl, I heard this one on TikTok lol.
But! It resonated so heavily because it came immediately after Halle and I had a conversation about the very same topic. We were chatting about how our realities were shifting and some things in our new realities are different, a little difficult, and more complicated. We concluded that conversation on the need for optimism. The absolute requirement for a positive outlook in order to successfully navigate the period of life that is post-grad/young adulthood.
The TikTok reiterated the same notion: that as your reality shifts — which is inevitable — you must also shift your perspective accordingly in order to feel aligned. What I heard him say was that if you keep approaching your current reality with an old perspective, you'll never be able to see your current reality clearly enough to embrace it and enjoy it. It'll always feel off because you're trying to approach it from an outdated perspective.
For the folks who wear glasses, we know this the best. Go try putting on a pair of glasses from a few years ago (if you can find them lol). I am very sure you can't see out of them anymore. They helped your vision then, but your eyes have changed and need something different now. So with a new prescription, you've accommodated for that and are able to see clearly every day.
Same with your general perspective on life, on yourself, on the world! Things aren't what they were in college, in high school, when you were a kid, when your parents were kids. Your reality is sooooo different now and it's going to be difficult to live in this current reality fully if you're looking at it from an old perspective. You don't think the same because, hopefully, you aren't the same. You have different needs and lead a different life now. Take stock of that and shift where you can.
A very wonderful coworker sent this to me in a Slack message after I had a mini-meltdown at work.
They said it in context to what I was feeling and to ensure that I knew that I wasn't the only person who felt this way, which I appreciated dearly. But, I heard it in such a deeper way.
What I heard was that, despite the sometimes isolating nature of the world and the literal isolating urban design of the city I live in, I am in community and that I am quite literally not alone.
I am connected to amazing people that I adore and respect, I am in community through so many networks I've been blessed to be a part of, I am capable of building relationships that are meaningful and caring and supportive.
My experience is not my own. I am connected to the experiences of so many other people. I am a result of the love and care of so many other people. So when it feels like I have no one to talk to or that I don't have any friends, this is a truth that I can constantly go back to. I truly am not alone. Loneliness may creep into my life sometimes, but there are living, breathing people that I know I can reach out to when I need them. And that is love.
Anyway, friends, I hope this made sense and was helpful to you! To be quite frank, I spent maybe 15 minutes MAX writing this piece after drinking a generous glass of Moscato at a TGS event lmao. But I like it because it's truly reflective of what I was thinking and feeling at the time and who am I to disregard that?
Cheers to learning, building foundations, shifting perspectives, and living in community!
