Community Watch

Placing a cap on emotions is like shaking up a soda bottle. An explosion is inevitable when you stuff your feelings. I am writing this to take the lid off. I am a creative Christian who has often felt like my creativity is a curse. Being a right brainer in a left brain world is like being left-handed in a world that was created with right-handed people in mind. It is possible to navigate, but it can, at times, be awkward.

When I prepared for a recent talk on “The Curse of Creativity” I studied how countless creative lives have ended in suicide. Sometimes their untimely end is our beginning glimpse into their struggle. The actors whose characters became our crush. The comedians who invited us to laugh at their pain. The singers whose songs became our life’s anthem. The writers whose words wowed us with wisdom. How could stars who shined so brightly give into the dark? I think I know how, depression befriended them, infiltrated their thoughts, influenced their actions, and successfully coerced them to do what darkness does. Try to cancel the light.

Depression like darkness conceals identity, which is the very reason that adding street lights to an area can decrease crime. When we shine the light on depression we can decrease suicidal thoughts. Is there a community watch in your neighborhood in which neighbors look out for one another’s property? I think there is a need for a community watch in which we look out for each other’s lives.

Darkness alters self-perception, which is why small children who are trying to get away with doing something wrong often cover their eyes as if they are no longer visible. Depression does something similar, it’s like putting our hands over our faces and thinking that if we can’t see, then we can’t be seen.  Just because we close our eyes to depression, doesn’t mean we’re no longer depressed, it simply means we are more likely to bump into something that is way worse than the sorrow that caused us to hide.

If you’re ready to take the lid off, turn the light on or simply uncover your eyes concerning depression, click the link below so that you don’t have to walk through alone. 

http://www.crisistextline.org/

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

How Weakness Makes You Great

For months now I have been writing but, I have remained silent. Which is funny because that is the subtitle of my book. “Write or Remain Silent.” I even went away for a silent retreat and wrote my little heart out.

Somewhere along the way, I seemed to have lost my voice, which is ironic because I recently taught a blogging workshop entitled, “Finding Your Voice.” Imagine how confusing it feels to be mocked by your muse. The very thing you inspire others to do is the one thing you wrestle with.

Sometimes I feel crazy. Other times I feel cursed. Which leads to another talk I recently shared, “The Curse of Creativity.” At least no one can ever accuse me of pretending to be something I am not. I struggle with weaknesses and internal insults, just like the people I encourage.

 

In case you are wondering where I am going with this, I have realized that the only way to truly find your voice is to USE it. What is the purpose of writing if you are going to remain silent? What feels like a curse, when shared, becomes a catalyst for courage in someone else’s life.

Are you a thought leader, motivator, or dreamer who wrestles with indecision, self-doubt, and periodic bouts of silence? Perhaps you know deep within that you are a powerhouse, yet you feel powerless. Be encouraged, your weakness does not negate your greatness, it only magnifies God’s strength. Your desire for perfection, the love affair with potential, and fact that you know you are capable of so much more. Personal persecution steals your joy like silence steals a psalmist’s song.

Dr. Maya Angelou did not know the power of her own voice until after she was silent for 5 years. She knew that words were powerful, and feared that they might bring about death, not knowing that her words would someday add life to the masses.

Your current discontentment can give birth to your table of content. Do not despise your weakness, because it is the very thing that makes you great.

“Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

2 Corinthians 12:10