from Talk to Fa
We buy things we don’t need We drive cars we can’t afford We go to places social media says are cool We invest in neighborhoods we don’t resonate with We do drugs to feel better for the moment We drink alcohol to forget We consume destructive music and entertainment We date people we don’t love We stay friends with people who flake on us We eat food with no nutritional value We eat “healthy” food unfit for our designs We overwork to avoid facing ourselves We stay in careers we think we should be in We escape to exotic destinations We stay busy to feel important We spend our time and energy on the wrong people We blame our problems on other people We hold on to our outdated beliefs really hard
Then we hit rock bottom
We realize we are not well We have no idea who we are None of these external factors makes us happy We can’t keep escaping We can’t keep going like this anymore
This is when we break
Everything we’ve held on to no longer works We experience a massive amount of loss In relationships, health, jobs, and things we own
The loss ends up working in our favor It’s spring cleaning time Everything that holds us back, is out To create more space for new things to enter
We encounter people who challenge and test us They are here to urge our growth We encounter people who instantly feel like family They are here to remind us we are not alone in our journeys And that we deserve to love and be loved
We finally start facing ourselves It’s uncomfortable But we can’t go back We have no other choice So we keep going inward The darkness of the tunnel feels like forever
Then we start seeing the light We start remembering who we are Who we want to be Who we don’t want to be moving forward What we like What we don’t like
We realize all our problems stem from our childhoods We revisit our painful pasts We work through them with grace and courage This time, we got this Our awareness is on another level We’ve been collecting the dots this whole time We finally get to connect them It’s time to feel whole
We’ve reached the state of inner peace We accept where we are and who we are We accept the painful pasts We accept the wrongdoings of other people We see ourselves in others We surrender and love
Our journeys continue.
#writing
from Dallin Crump
One of the things that I have enjoyed about taking my first Lenten journey this year is rediscovering my love of writing.
My desire to write flows from taking time each day to contemplate, read, and study. Before Lent, I had filled every free moment with mindless distractions and entertainments, so I had almost no desire to write.
But now I feel almost compelled to write. Not only to record and share what I'm thinking and learning, but as an exercise that helps crystallize and organize those thoughts. It's similar to “thinking out loud” when you're talking through something with another person, except this is thinking on paper? Thinking in text?
This blog is an excellent outlet for my writing, but I have also taken up keeping a personal journal again, too. This past Sunday I re-subscribed to Day One and wrote an actual journal entry for the first time in almost two years.
And I reactivated my IFTTT applet that automatically adds posts from this blog as journal entries in my Day One journal, so everything I write here is captured for posterity.
I'm hoping I can keep the distractions in check permanently this time. Although they require time and intention, I have found writing, reading, contemplation, and other such activities to be illuminating and more fulfilling than playing a video game or mindlessly scrolling social media.
#writing #intentionism