to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares

What is it that you want to do, even if nobody else cares? What are you willing to invest in the process – the noodling, futzing, the pushing, the pulling, the trying, the doing?

in a world where you’re always afraid to take the first step

What’s the first step you’re afraid to take? Is honor or passion more important?

…it just fascinated me

Listen to Sam Reed talk about how he followed his fascination to find his life’s work.

What are the things that have fascinated you? What did other people think about that? Have you followed your fascinations, or let them lie?

what i keep

What I Keep is a photography project from the Church Under the Bridge in Waco, Texas. Click through the images.

What do you keep? Why is it valuable?

the demands of love

“The demands of love present themselves constantly and simultaneously and without any order. Here is a hungry old man for whom I have a little love and who has come to ask for food which I am keeping for the supper of my much-loved children: how am I to weigh the present demand of a feebler love against the future demand of a stronger…Future love does not exist. Love is a present activity only.”

- Tolstoy, as quoted by Douglas Schuurman in Vocation

Do you agree? Is love only an activity for the present? And if so, what feeble loves are you being called to share? What strong ones?

…and then throw yourself into the story

What inciting incident has happened? What’s your pressure? What story are you in the midst of?

it’s the making a go of it that we all have to learn to do

“There I was: a Quaker with a Jewish family working with an AmeriCorps program run out of an Episcopal church!” she said with a laugh. “It seemed like a detour, but this was the thing that made sense. It took all these strands in my life and worked them together.”

Sarah Nazimova-Baum’s path to her current work was, as she describes it, “labyrinthine.” Are there strands of your life that seem completely disconnected? Can you see the things you’re learning coming together in some creative way?

the raft is not the shore

I have told you many times the importance of knowing when it is time to let go of a raft and not hold on to it unnecessarily. When a mountain stream overflows and becomes a torrent of floodwater carrying debris, a man or woman who wants to get across might think, ‘What is the safest way to cross this floodwater?’ Assessing the situation, she may decide to gather branches and grasses, constructing a raft, and use it to cross to the other side. But, after arriving on the other side, she thinks, ‘I spent a lot of time and energy building this raft. It is a prized possession, and I will carry it with me as I continue my journey.’ If she puts it on her head and carries it with her on land, do you think that would be intelligent?

(from Thich Nhat Hanh’s Thundering Silence)

What rafts are you still carrying on your head? What streams have they helped you cross already? And what rivers might you have to ford next?

or, would you sing something different?

How often are you singing the song we hear on the radio all day? When’s the last time you sang something real, something you felt?

bring what i am able

 

Sarah’s video is striking because she turns things upside down – how often have you thought before about the resources used to film a music video? Living a meaningful, intentional lifestyle often means thinking deeper and more creatively about what we have and how we do things. What are you able to bring? What creative upside-down resources do you have to share?