I snapped this photo on a drive Wednesday evening (from the passenger seat) and was awed by the beauty of this night sky and vivid moon.
It was a subtle yet powerful reminder that even in times of darkness, beauty can abide.
If we’ll pay attention to the simple and the signifinicant kindnesses we’ve experienced (yes, even in 2020), we’ll acknowledge the truth that the light still wins.
Are you tired yet? I admit that I am.
Tired of turning on the news each day to hear more bad news. Tired of carefully plotting trips to the grocery store or pick-up times for carryout meals so that I strategically encounter as few fellow humans as possible. Tired of wondering when this season of semi-isolation and racial unrest and economic uncertainty will ease.
Yet, what if…just what if this season has come to make us weary? To shake us up? To help us long for and actually create a new normal – a better world borne from the ashes of all that wasn’t working?
What if this darkness is the precursor to a brighter light and a better way – one that we can’t even imagine because it’s so powerfully positive? What if we do our part, in this present moment, individually and collectively, scared or brave, to make this so?
I humbly offer up my part, through the calling I’ve embraced since my elementary school days – my writing. For I know, that I know, that I know that there is beauty and hope and transformation available in and through the written and spoken word.
As you ponder your next steps and how you can somehow make this pandemic-laden season better for yourself and others, I invite you to bathe yourself in words that help you heal, cling to hope, find some measure of happiness and strengthen your heart.
I invite you to consume the words offered up here – in a few videos I recently recorded, in a recent blog post and in my on-sale book offerings (worthy reads or re-reads this summer). I also encourage you to explore and enjoy the many other options available from my fellow scribes. Challenge yourself to read at least two books this summer by authors who are new to you and whose work may not only entertain you, but also expand you in some way.
May what I share in this space be the start (or continuation) of your efforts to practice self-care and protect your spirit. You’ll need to do more and more of that during these uncertain times, and you should do so with gratitude and without guilt.
Read On, Watch & Listen and Be Encouraged
There’s someone in this world waiting for what only you can offer when he or she needs it most:
that well-timed call or text;
that book, poem or song;
that humor or virtual hug;
that truth-in-love swift kick;
those words of wisdom or kindness.
The list could go on, but you get the picture. Your life matters. You matter.
Even during a pandemic. Especially now.
So press forward, embracing this slower place.
Listen to your heart and declutter your life.
Love yourself and value yourself. Treasure those who love and value you, no strings attached.
Extend grace to others and appreciate when it flows your way, too. Just be, and let that be gift enough for today.
I’m what you call a rider. Not perfect by any means, but striving always to help those in my circle through thick and thin.
When you win, I’m celebrating the victory with you. When you suffer a loss, I’m holding your hand through the grief, even if only virtually.
It’s just Wednesday, and the losses are heavy this week in my family of friends, and (not that it really matters) none so far are COVID-related.
A loss is a loss. A life cut short cuts deep for those left behind to live with the void.
And in these times when we can’t drop by to sit and pray, to share a dish and kind word, or even attend a funeral or memorial service (except through livestream), many are feeling anchorless, and baffled about how to support others or find closure themselves.
What I’ve been leaning into is the truth of the only thing that endures: love. It is a river and a language and a bond that flows and speaks and connects us in ways we often don’t understand or can’t articulate.
Love leaves an imprint on our lives and in our hearts that, after a loss, grows into a powerful legacy.
When all else fails and nothing makes sense, we must hold onto the reality that love is the answer.
We must use our words to tell the hurting we love them, for words can be a healing force. That declaration can be followed by whatever acts of kindness we can muster in quarantine, whether a consistent text or call or sending a card, flowers or gift card, or adding the grief-stricken to our prayer list, or sitting on the phone and letting them talk.
As we go back to basics in so many ways during this pandemic, choose to make love your basic foundation, or increase its strength if it already is.
When you love yourself more, you’ll have a full well from which to give.
When you love others more, you’re helping fill their depleted tanks and shoring them up until they can stand again.
This week, I’m covering my dear friends grappling with deep loss in love and more love.
️And because love is neverending, I’ve got enough overflow to share with you, too.
Whatever you are facing today, know that I love you.
Lean on those closest to you and tell them if you need help. Focus on what is before you in this minute or this hour and just breathe. Trust God. And know that light eventually follows darkness. Always.
Sending a virtual hug and heartfelt encouragement your way today.
Take a few minutes to sit quietly and breathe deeply.
Take a walk or engage in some other type of exercise for just 15 minutes.
Read or utter a prayer and an affirmation of hope and healthiness.
Love and be kind to yourself.
Love and be patient with others.
Find a few reasons to laugh, if you can.
We are going through a global traumatic event; but rather than give in to fear and panic,
may we all more readily lean into the faith and the peace that come with trusting God.
Through thick and thin, when we understand and when we don’t, He is there. Let us continue to be His hands and heart and listening ear in human form.
Life Untapped with Stacy Hawkins Adams 