A thank you to my readers (and why I'm moving to Substack)

Movement, change, and creative involvement

I’m going to be real with you.

Over the past several months, I’ve had to make some tough choices.

I’ve had to discern what to let go of (*podcasting, for example) and what to grab hold of (*a new opportunity with JBS International). Letting go and grabbing hold used to be an agonizing process for me and if I’m honest, can still be. I don’t want to let people down and I don’t want to give up on anything—even if I know that it’s time to move on.

Have you ever had to make tough choices about letting go of something or grabbing a hold of that new thing that feels uncertain and risky?

Choosing the next right thing will sometimes let people down.

Following the path you are meant to follow will undoubtedly confuse (and sometimes infuriate) others.

Today, I’m sharing this because I believe that words are powerful.

Perhaps you are in a similar place with a job, relationship, or book-baby.

Maybe, you have been waiting for someone to say that it is okay to take that step, make that move, write that book.

I started reading Madeleine L’Engle’s Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art on my last flight to a conference for work. It may sound morbid, but I always try to pick books that I’d have no regrets about if they were the last words I read before the plane goes down.

[did I mention I have an active imagination?]

In the book, L’Engle talks about the concept of creative involvement, what she perceives as the difference between being an active partner in the creative process of writing and reading versus a passive sponge. She writes:

“The author and reader “know” each other; they meet on the bridge of words.”

- Madeleine L’Engle

This line makes me think about the relationship between God and me, and how I can have a spiritual relationship and know God. How I can meet him on the bridge of circumstance. How he invites me into creation, an active participant, a willing friend.

And now, as I sit with my feet dangling off the bridge, I peer into the movements before me and I’m reminded that I’m not alone. No decision, no change, no turn of events too minuscule for a God that cares about every wisp, every smudge, every breath.

It is in this spirit that I’m also inviting you to move with me into the unknown.

If you are reading these words, it is because I’ve invited you to join me at Circle of Chairs (my new home). You won’t be getting more emails from my other platform (*bright story shine or others), just this simple place where words are shared and thoughts exchanged. You will be able to access past podcast episodes, new articles and stories, and recycled posts that never get old because they are your stories.

I hope you stay.

To continue to quote my latest flight book pick:

Let’s meet on the bridge of words.

Thank you for showing up and joining me on this journey. Words are powerful. Community is healing. Grateful for you.