4:52
This is a love letter to the ones who evening dream on Sundays, to the ones who sit in a quiet space between four white walls covered in dying flowers as the clock slowly ticks at 4:52. If you live with nobody else, perhaps you haven’t murmured a single word since leaving church this morning, both a blessing and a curse.
As the sun goes back into hiding, the golden hour will turn towards a gradient of shadows that cross the living room floor. This is when the dreamers emerge from the woodworks to grow the One Idea.
I think maybe lonely Sunday evenings were designed to romanticize the dreamers. We fill our lungs with intentionally breathed air. We start nurturing the One Idea when we're restless because Netflix and novels aren’t filling the empty spaces anymore, when we’re tired of watching the clock tick closer to 10:00 -- the sign that it’s not too early to lay our heads on our pillow for the night.
The One Idea is introduced as a character in your story when your brain is moving a million times faster than your body, when you've curled up in a cocoon of soft blankets with no intention of emerging.
The quiet creeps in from underneath the door cracks. Those who live alone either let it envelope us or we'll allow the quiet to become the golden scene for the One Idea's development.
Sundays are restful. Be still and listen because passion projects, the One Ideas, are usually planted as soul whispers.
Our minds start wandering to the situations in this shadowy world that need to be loved on or gently bandaged up, and our brains begin chirping to water the roots for the One Idea.
We remove the journal or the sketchbook from the precariously piled stack of books, open to the next clean page and start scrawling messy thoughts and simple drawings to document the web in our minds. The quiet becomes an intentional friend instead of a beast in the shadowed corner.
The restless wigglings fuel us to act with our small hands, to bandage the cracks of darkness. When the dreamers crawl out from the woodworks as the sun falls asleep on Sundays, the One Idea waters a promising plant.
This is a continuation of thoughts from some writing I did last week. I was invited to write for Comeback Magazine (an indie magazine) about the One Idea and Bravery Mission. The quarterly magazine will be published soon and I can’t wait for you to read more about my heart whispers about developing the One Idea!
Here is Comeback’s mission statement, I'm slightly obsessed with it ::
“Comeback is a collection of stories with the sole purpose of helping anyone lost to find a path. Comeback believes that no one is in the same place as another. Comeback reaches through the vast resources available to today’s generation and takes back the purest, realist advice to provide a beginning for self-discovery, motivation, and curiosity. A comeback is not just a return to former glory; it’s going beyond what was thought possible.”
Currently: February 21, 2017
My desk at church sits in front of a window that overlooks the lobby. There's a preschool in the building and tiny humans frequently pass in front of me. Today, I had a forest of aromatic floral and greenery bouquets and bunches surrounding my workspace that were from a funeral last week.
Two young kids came up the stairs a little after lunch time. They usually wave at me — but today they stopped in their tracks, looked through my window and gasped at the unfamiliar sight of twelve oversized flower displays in the office. I noticed them staring and whispering to each other. Without even thinking, I snatched up a pair of scissors and cut two yellow daisies off one of the arrangements. I gave the small boy and the smaller girl one each and the boy proclaimed that he would give it to his mom. Naturally, his sister followed suit.
It brightened my heart to be surrounded by a forest of flowers in my office space all day. But even more so, I hope that passing along two simple small flowers could perhaps be the rose of a sweet mom's day when her two children present pretty blooms to her.
What are some ways you could show simple, every day acts of kindness? Here are some ideas!
- Make a golden playlist with songs for a friend that speak to their current walk of life.
- Put a small care package in your car to pull from if you see a homeless human.
- Shoot a quick text of your favorite memory with a close friend to say "I'm thinking about you."
- Write a love letter and put it in the mail for a dear friend.
- Write another letter and leave it in a public space for a stranger to find.
- Visit More Love Letters and send snail mail to a stranger who could truly use it.
- Do a chore or activity for somebody that makes their day a little lighter.
- Be a listener.
- Pay for somebody's coffee.
- Make quick conversation with your cashier at the store. Encourage them.
- Talk to the quiet person.
- Compliment your coworkers. Thank them for what they do.
- My personal favorite :: Give somebody a flower.
Currently: January 31, 2017
Today I managed to get my hands on my first florals in months. I didn't quite find them as I normally like to — creeping around outside, trimming neatly and collecting — rather I snagged them from the church I work at. They would've been thrown in the garbage anyways, so it was okay ;)
Basically what this means is in the next few days (or week. or two), you'll see a mini version of my thesis because it's been far too long! I have a basket full of poinsettia leaves and this lovely bouquet full of muted purples greens, and a ceiling corner in my apartment that needs to be filled with dried suspended blooms.
In the meantime, I'm sure you remember my thesis work involving all sorts of foraged nature bits, bugs and bones. Here's a video to refresh your memory! Scroll further to see work by one of my faaavorite contemporary sculptors.
Rebecca Louise Law remains one of my most significant artistic influences (for reasons you may guess from the photos below) — imagine how thrilled I was to discover her work after I'd started my thesis work because our philosophies and processes weave such interesting connections. Here are some of my favorite works that she (and a big ol' team of volunteers — lucky her) installed in the last year!
"The Beauty of Decay," series, 2016, Bedfordshire.
"Taenaris Catops," 2015.
"Light & Dark," 2016, London.
"The Canopy," 2016, Melbourne.
"The City Garden," 2016, London.
making bravery our mission and kicking fear out the door.
Friends, fear is not given permission to preach anymore. This is the moment for the lion-hearted warriors to emerge from the woodwork and do what is right and good for our fellow humans. Perhaps we are alive and breathing right this very second because we've been designed as a generation of the fiercely loving individuals. Your eyes see injustice and your voice is empowered to speak against darkness. It's not gone unnoticed.
Oh, how I used to give fear the power to rule my days. My voice was just barely a whisper. I had anxious feelings weaving through my bones as I drove to the store to do something as simple as buying milk.
I looked down at my hands every single day for years and deeply believed they were too small to change anything. I thought I was simply a small, mouse of a Kate. Absolutely microbial in comparison to the massive darkness swirling our planet.
The day I realized that I had the option to close the door on fear, I was gifted a power that kicked my feet out from under me. I was bruised and afraid from the realization, yet my eyes were opened to the fact that nothing truly good was coming from giving fear the seat so close to mine at my table.
We are all given a choice -- we can let fear strangle us to the point that we can't move, or we can rise from this world's brokenness, be the hands and feet, and make bravery our mission.
Loves, we have been raised as a generation of independent thinkers and go-getters. I sense that in your ambitions and hearts. And we have the chance to see how we might use our power for something so much greater than our own personal gains. There's no reason to let fear in our front door if we have the ability to use our voices and give our empathetic compassion to our fellow humans who are hurting so very deeply.
Esther 4:14 says this :: "For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
First of all, if you're not familiar with Esther's story, please, please study it. I think her works will channel power to you and I think we can all find connections with today.
Second, if we keep silent right now we will all weaken. We won't know if we can be outlets of change if we slide into the shadows and watch as history repeats itself. There is brokenness in all the corners of the world. Our next steps are absolutely crucial. We have to channel the fire in our souls into iron fists that refuse to stand for injustice for any human. Though our hands are individually small, they are mighty when a thousand link up. We have hard, tolling work ahead of us but it's necessary. My prayer is that we will document these days in truth and bravery.
I designed a passion project called Bravery Mission a few months ago. It started on the premise that bravery is found in all the corners of golden successes and tarnished falls. That it isn't always about the grand gestures or the daring actions, or even the absence of fear.
At first, I envisioned Bravery Mission as a connection map for others to document moments of courage, so that others could realize their own bravery, and empower the process of disallowing fear to rule.
Friends, while that is still incredibly important for my intention with Bravery Mission, I think courage is so much bigger than just that now. We have to start going bigger than our own hearts and give a voice to the voiceless. We can do that because others years before us fought so we can today. We have to give our resources and our time, and most importantly, our love and kindness to our neighbors and those across the globe. We can peacefully and intentionally fight injustice with our calm yet fiery presences. We have to shout to our fellow humans that we seem them and hear them, that we love them and are going to help them.
And that's not going to be easy. In fact, I can guarantee that it will be messy and maybe terrifying, but fear cannot win if we don't give it power. The age-old is love and peace. We have to document these days because our choices now will change the future. We're going to look back on what we decided to do or not do, and we'll either be proud of or regret our decisions.
So write is all down. All the emotions, what you're doing to help. Remember your heart and your humanness, and how we started trampling fear and changed the world. Because we can do that. We are on this earth amidst injustice and darkness, right this very second, for a reason. I will not and cannot sleepwalk through this life. I hope you'll join me. You are brave and empowered and have the ability to document these days as we change the world.
I love you. I see you. I am with you.
In peace and lion-heart,
Kate
Currently: January 17, 2017
I haven't reread through the Harry Potter series in years, which is surprising because I practically lived in the wizarding world through middle school and high school. The characters taught me about bravery and friendship and finding magic, and in a significant way became a part of my soul.
I've noticed a lot of people are reading the books again and I'm boarding the Hogwarts Express with them as your friendly neighborhood Slytherin. I promise I'm nice! Just determined! Anyways, I'm reading them again because I think I could use a little extra magic in my heart, especially as an adult. I'm eager to see what I"ll take away from them as a 23-year-old. I'm sure there will be mischief managed.
I also maaaaaay be planning on doing a Potter related work soon (because I'm so inspired) so keep an eye out for that! I think it'll be pretty rad. In the meantime, here's some work by two delightful artist ladies I've connected with in the last few months via Instagram — I also get to work with both of them in different, super neat ways, so read on!
Rhea Amyett (@hatchingartist on Instagram) does just as her Instagram handle suggests — she cross-hatches for shading and ends up with the most beautiful small drawings. I actually won this Sorting Hat piece in a giveaway she did a few weeks ago (so. thrilled.)! Check out her Instagram by clicking the photo, or click here to head over to her Etsy shop. I'm also participating in the Art Stew Fifty-Two Instagram project that she's heading up. Basically a prompt is presented each week to a group of artists and we all use our different mediums to make a piece of work, which we'll post with the same hashtag to make a big ol' art stew! Go here to see the Art Stew Fifty-Two work that's been done so far in 2017.
Teagan Olivia (@mutedrosemercantile on Instagram) is the other lady whose work I'm recently obsessed with. She makes the most beautiful embroideries and is currently working on a top-secret Harry Potter project. I'm lucky enough to be in on it because she asked for representatives of each Hogwarts House to be her brand ambassadors — so (as the friendly neighborhood Slytherin) I'll get to show off one of her new HP embroideries in a few days! Here's the link to her Etsy shop and her Instagram.