I was having lunch with my husband and our littlest toddler this afternoon. As we were planning out our month ahead, I started to share with him about how overwhelmed I was feeling with what’s on our plate right now. In addition to everything else on our calendar, I decided to make a spur of the moment commitment to a 31 day writing challenge, which I read about the day before it started.
I knew deep down it was time; it was something I/we needed to do. You see, 2 and a half years ago, in May of 2012, the Hope Artists vision was born. I remember the day vividly and recall the palpable excitement we both felt for this calling. I cannot begin to tell you the amount of resistance we’ve experienced since then. We’ve had multiple, passionate conversations and vision casting meetings in which we dreamstormed how we could use our gifts to share hope. How we would transparently share our struggles, triumphs and pain to let others know they’re not alone and their stories matter. Yet each time, the date we set to get started, for whatever reason, didn’t work.
So October 1st, 2014, we put together a simple website to begin writing about ‘31 Days to Finding and Sharing Hope’. Because it was time to stop planning and start doing. However, I realized as I was talking with Jay over lunch that I had put enormous pressure on myself. I felt that years of ideas of how to help others must now be neatly conveyed to each of you. As a recovering perfectionist, this was a pretty big feat.
By the end of our conversation, it became clear I was feeling hopeless because of the expectations I had laid out for myself. And that’s not what this is about. This is a journey. And just like a road trip, it doesn’t always go perfectly, no matter how much planning goes into the vacation. This, my friends, is what makes us all real and human, which allows for genuine, caring relationships to take place. I find that encouraging; because what we aim to be about here, is to create a safe place where you can come rest with us; where you can be you, I can be me and we can be us -- and love and accept each other because of (and in spite of?) it. And that gives me hope.
Do you ever feel distracted by self-imposing expectations? I would love to hear about how you found freedom again!
-- Stephanie
Photo Credit: Clemson via Compfight
I knew deep down it was time; it was something I/we needed to do. You see, 2 and a half years ago, in May of 2012, the Hope Artists vision was born. I remember the day vividly and recall the palpable excitement we both felt for this calling. I cannot begin to tell you the amount of resistance we’ve experienced since then. We’ve had multiple, passionate conversations and vision casting meetings in which we dreamstormed how we could use our gifts to share hope. How we would transparently share our struggles, triumphs and pain to let others know they’re not alone and their stories matter. Yet each time, the date we set to get started, for whatever reason, didn’t work.
So October 1st, 2014, we put together a simple website to begin writing about ‘31 Days to Finding and Sharing Hope’. Because it was time to stop planning and start doing. However, I realized as I was talking with Jay over lunch that I had put enormous pressure on myself. I felt that years of ideas of how to help others must now be neatly conveyed to each of you. As a recovering perfectionist, this was a pretty big feat.
By the end of our conversation, it became clear I was feeling hopeless because of the expectations I had laid out for myself. And that’s not what this is about. This is a journey. And just like a road trip, it doesn’t always go perfectly, no matter how much planning goes into the vacation. This, my friends, is what makes us all real and human, which allows for genuine, caring relationships to take place. I find that encouraging; because what we aim to be about here, is to create a safe place where you can come rest with us; where you can be you, I can be me and we can be us -- and love and accept each other because of (and in spite of?) it. And that gives me hope.
Do you ever feel distracted by self-imposing expectations? I would love to hear about how you found freedom again!
-- Stephanie
Photo Credit: Clemson via Compfight