"When I’ve regretted saying something on the internet, it’s never been about love. I’ve never regretted loving or encouraging or celebrating something. I have often regretted slamming or dismissing or criticizing something, because when I do that online, it’s outside of relationship, outside of shared understanding, outside of context...
There will always be enough beauty, enough hope, enough good, if we decide to be people who are always on the lookout for it. I want to use my voice to bring light and hope and beauty. I want to search for what’s good, and shout about that."
The past 3 days and nights, I've been calligraphing the addresses and reply cards for my friend, Allie's wedding. It's tedious work, and I'm happy to be done with it. I'm also proud of myself, as this is the first time I've done it completely freehand (with no tracing light box to keep things centered and straight, bc her envelopes were too thick for that), and they turned out surprisingly good (if I do say so myself). lol So I'm more confident in my artsy calligraphy ability knowing I can do that, but I don't plan to do it again any time soon! :)
Whilst calligraphing for hours and hours, after watching 13 episodes of Grey's Anatomy this week - (I'm hooked now, such an emotionally intense show!), I clicked on a FB link to watch J.K. Rowling's speech at the Harvard Commencement. After that, I followed the sidebar links and also listened to Oprah and Steve Jobs' commencement speeches at Stanford. (I prefer having something to listen to that I don't feel compelled to look up and watch as I calligraphy.)
Anyway, I noticed an obvious theme and order among these three speeches: the benefits of failure, the importance of connections, and the power of doing something you truly love. I appreciated hearing this because, despite my growing dreams for my life, I mostly feel like I'm in the "failure" stage right now... (climbing out of an emotional rock bottom, trying to discern and choose between what I think is expected and what I really want in life, questioning my ability and passion to achieve certain goals, just feeling far from where I want to be and uncertain about where I'm headed, etc.) It's nice to be reminded that everyone goes through times like this, and that 'failure' often serves a much greater purpose in the long run! Each of the 3 speakers came out of their difficult failure season with a more defined sense of who they were and what they were called to do - something they loved that would be meaningful to them and to others - and that strength of purpose is something I'm praying for lately.
I also loved what was said about connections and the power of empathy. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, probably thanks to watching Grey's. When I'm feeling judgmental about something, even if it truly is wrong, it softens my approach and makes a huge difference when I know the individual person and seek to understand their story. I want to connect and care and keep a soft heart toward others, to avoid dehumanizing people by keeping a comfortable distance. Not sure if this is making sense. I just really don't think God wants us speaking Biblical truth if it's not done in love, both for Him and the other person. So many thoughts there, but I probably haven't expressed them adequately or eloquently right now.
Odds are good I should get back to work anyway. I just felt like writing after listening to those speeches, so there you go. :)
*My favorite was J.K. Rowling, which I'm posting below - 20 minutes, but definitely worth watching!
(^^The addresses for these two were incorrect, so I figured I could post a pic.)
Whilst calligraphing for hours and hours, after watching 13 episodes of Grey's Anatomy this week - (I'm hooked now, such an emotionally intense show!), I clicked on a FB link to watch J.K. Rowling's speech at the Harvard Commencement. After that, I followed the sidebar links and also listened to Oprah and Steve Jobs' commencement speeches at Stanford. (I prefer having something to listen to that I don't feel compelled to look up and watch as I calligraphy.)
Anyway, I noticed an obvious theme and order among these three speeches: the benefits of failure, the importance of connections, and the power of doing something you truly love. I appreciated hearing this because, despite my growing dreams for my life, I mostly feel like I'm in the "failure" stage right now... (climbing out of an emotional rock bottom, trying to discern and choose between what I think is expected and what I really want in life, questioning my ability and passion to achieve certain goals, just feeling far from where I want to be and uncertain about where I'm headed, etc.) It's nice to be reminded that everyone goes through times like this, and that 'failure' often serves a much greater purpose in the long run! Each of the 3 speakers came out of their difficult failure season with a more defined sense of who they were and what they were called to do - something they loved that would be meaningful to them and to others - and that strength of purpose is something I'm praying for lately.
I also loved what was said about connections and the power of empathy. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, probably thanks to watching Grey's. When I'm feeling judgmental about something, even if it truly is wrong, it softens my approach and makes a huge difference when I know the individual person and seek to understand their story. I want to connect and care and keep a soft heart toward others, to avoid dehumanizing people by keeping a comfortable distance. Not sure if this is making sense. I just really don't think God wants us speaking Biblical truth if it's not done in love, both for Him and the other person. So many thoughts there, but I probably haven't expressed them adequately or eloquently right now.
Odds are good I should get back to work anyway. I just felt like writing after listening to those speeches, so there you go. :)
*My favorite was J.K. Rowling, which I'm posting below - 20 minutes, but definitely worth watching!
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