"Do you still honestly believe that we were meant to live?" (Part Two)
Note to Self.
There are still a couple spots left for Disappointment & Acceptance, a small-group conversation about making peace with the past present. Starts at 7pm ET (on Thursday, May 23).
This is Part Two. If you haven’t read Part One, you can find it here.
Maybe the second part is just the letting go. Actually no, because you can hear Noah singing, “all this letting go is just another thing you’re holding onto.” And Noah would be correct. Because the only thing you do more than hold on, is talk about letting go.
So maybe the second part is the thing that happens after. Because maybe the whole point of letting go is you end up free. Free to pick up whatever’s next. Free to hold some new tools. Free to work and build. Free to rest and dream. To place your hand against your heart and remember you’re alive. Free to lift your hands and spread your fingers, like you did at Sphere when your all-time favorite band played, like you used to do in church on Sundays growing up.
I’ve heard you say you still dig the idea of a God who loves you. I’ve heard you say deep down there’s still belief. Well, how long has it been since you believed in you?
At the heart of what you started is a question of identity—fuck-up versus loved. Which is easier to answer when the first seems far away, when you’re in airports and on stages, when you’re holding up awards and on the news. But what about when you feel like a fuck-up? Is there a difference between consequences and identity? You heard someone say recently, “Shame is a community-based emotion.” What made you write those words down? Could love apply to you? What about what Rich said all those years ago, that it’s yours regardless of performance?
Switchfoot’s famous song is not called “Meant to Be Impressive.” It isn’t “Meant to Always Win.” The song is simply “Meant to Live.”
“Do you still honestly believe that we were meant to live?” I wonder if Jon is wrestling with the thing that he’s most known for, not just the hit defined by business and protected by attorneys, but the idea at the heart of it. I wonder if you might try the equivalent.
Do you still honestly believe that fuck-up is a lie and love is true?
***
”Every day I write the eulogy
For everything I used to be
I'm still aiming for a better me
I am the mosaic of a shattered man
Broken and becoming
Broken and becoming who I am”
Join me for All You Need Is Water, a workshop based on everything I’ve learned about public speaking (and writing too). This online event, open to all levels of experience and limited to 11 people, is happening Friday, May 31 + Saturday, June 1. Learn more.
I’m fired up about coaching and consulting, excited to prioritize this in the weeks and months ahead. If working together interests you, whether it’s one-on-one talking through challenges you’re facing, or on a bigger scale with your non-profit, business, or brand, please feel free to reach out.
I still love the simple mantra: Read. Think. Pray. Live. The words are easy. The practice takes, well, practice…The reading is broad - from socials to books to trying to remain teachable and open to ideas. The thinking part can take my mind to all sorts of places including those of identity - good and not so good dependent upon the things of the day. The praying? Often that’s out on dog walks or in nature or in the comings and goings of everyday life. Living is more than a showreel. There are highs (Sphere and all we experienced there), there are lows - but, mostly, I think there are in betweens. I still believe that we are meant to live. I just wonder sometimes if the something more that we are meant to live for needs re-examined periodically? Sometimes we get hung up on things that were just for a season. We lament endings or past chapters. Surrender is a word I keep coming back to. It was spoken over me when I asked for a blessing from an elder - as you know. I think it might be a lifetime’s work - a lifetime believing that we are meant to show up and to live, come what may. B x
Man! This is one of your most authentic and honest posts and I love it. Thanks for being vulnerable and sharing your heart.