Farewell July: bodies as prophets, links I'm loving, and what you've missed this month.
A July wrap-up for all the folks
Well, welcome to August my friends. Here’s what you can find in this newsletter:
A thought I’m processing
A thought I’m loving
What you guys have been processing this month
Some links I’m loving
A full recap & links to this month’s posts
A thought I’m processing [apply what you’ve learned]
I’ve been sicker than usual this month. I tossed a dose of new Covid into the Long Covid mix, and then - after healing from that - I decided to take a second lap of new Covid with my Long Covid and new Covid. Good times.
At the same time all that was happening, I was thinking a lot about what wisdom I would share with my younger self (for an upcoming sermon series at church). And in a strange turn of events, the thing I would tell my younger self was the exact thing my current sick-self was struggling with. It was exactly what I needed to hear.
And you know what was funny? Instead of being like: perfect! So glad I know this so that I can apply it now! - I was like: Wait, what? How do I still need to hear this? Did I not learn this already??
I responded as if the fact that I needed to apply this lesson in the present was a sign that I hadn’t learned the lesson in the past fully enough.
Isn’t it weird how sometimes we act like the point of learning something is so that we can ‘move on’. Isn’t the point of learning things is so that you have more tools in your tool box for things coming up?
It’s not a sign of failure that the things you’ve learned in the past are things you need for the present.
I’m over here applying things I’ve already learned. And I’m learning to call that success, not failure.
A thought I’m loving [bodies are prophets]
In a recent post of KJ Ramsey’s (linked below) she refers to bodies as prophets.
I love the whole post, but that specific line resonates with a thought i’ve been loving recently: about the way our bodies can give us true information.
In the most recent bonus episode of “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,” Try Softer author, Aundi Kolber talks about how we sometimes ignore our bodies indicators that something is not okay. Trauma is often increased by this refusal to listen to our bodies. We treat their signals as irritating at best and sinful at worse.
How many times have you felt that resistance inside your physical being and ignored it? As Aundi points out - sometimes that resistance is there because of the past - it’s communicating to us that we need healing. And sometimes it’s there because of the present - because something we’re being asked to do is not healthy for us. Either way - isn’t that information so precious?
And isn’t it a strange and glorious thought that sometimes our bodies are the loudest prophets in the room? Sometimes they are the only voices brave enough to protest against lies.
What you guys have been processing this month?
I asked the peeps on the gram what they had been processing this month and here’s what some of you shared:
“Being grateful for my body, even in this wildly uncomfortable heat!”
Me too!
“Trusting my body isn’t crazy”
Guys! Are we all processing the same thing! I’m loving it!!
“Why God doesn’t answer prayers sometimes.”
Ugh. It’s such an important question. And - it’s an important exercise to listen to how the deep inner child/subconscious parts of us have answered this (even if it’s not the answer we think is ‘right’).
“Angry at my mom for stuff she did and feeling guilty cuz I understand that she had trauma.”
Man. It’s so hard when we begin to peel back the layers of how other people’s choices have impacted us. Anger is a part of grief. Compassion for others helps us understand why they did what they did, but it doesn’t necessarily dilute the experience of pain. (Nor does it need to). Two feelings can coexist. (and shame is sometimes a distraction. It keeps us focused on how we feel about our primary feelings instead of working through our primary feelings.)
Some links I’m loving
An IG post I liked (with the quote I referenced above)
A thing I’m curious about (anyone tried this??)
My current favorite pen (classic/basic/right size/flow for me)
An old playlist I’ve been listening to (Rainy Day Dawson’s Playlist)
A TikTok I keep sharing (I find this very relatable)
What you missed this month
Below are some links to what I’ve shared this month! (Please note that some of my messier thoughts and musings are behind a pay-wall. You can read more about why I do that here, and feel free to upgrade your subscription to access them.)
Some thoughts on accepting yourself (bringing your full self into the presence of God)
Bonus episode of Podcast-ish Thing (about fighting on the wrong side)
What I know now (some things I would tell my younger self)
More body love (if you haven’t noticed I’m really obsessed with bodies these days)
Ep 1.7 of Podcast-ish Thing (gaslighting, obedience, isolation, public shaming and other things that ain’t good)