“i’m making a new life for myself…” -griffin house

it’s friday. i slept in. without shame. i got up, went to the bank, got gas, and came to octane to meet the ever-fabulous emily matthews. i love this joint. is it your cliche artsy coffee bar where the “cool” people hang out? yes. but i still like it. without shame. i’ve been here since 2:30 and have no real plans of leaving yet. we’ll see what comes along. 

i’ve been making lists all day, laughing with emily, checking facebook every 3 minutes as though i hadn’t done it all day, and watched fascinating people. i swear the oldest hanson brother has been here as long as i have sitting at the bar. and jared hamilton’s twin brother works here. i had the best grilled cheese sangwich with goat cheese, swiss cheese, onions, and dijon. and the best latte in town. 

i know i keep talking about it, but there are new things afoot in life for me. 3 goals in particular. and i’m not scared to tell you what they are…

1) music project… this is the most forefront and active goal, currently. i’m currently writing a lot for an album. yeah, mine. some will say “about time”, others will say “really”, some “duh”, others “you think that’s smart?” and still others will say “why?”. to all of you, i have no answers. i do too, that’s a lie. call me if you really want one of them. now may not be the time to chase your dreams, economically. but doesn’t that mean that those of us who have now get jipped? we better do it anyway, because we don’t get another now. i’m really excited about this project, but not interested in rushing it. we’ll see how it all comes together! stay tuned!

2) life.liberty.rockandroll. i want to start an organization. too much to explain now. but i’m in the process of meeting with a lot of people and brainstorming and making a million lists about starting an organization to raise money to stop the human trafficking issue here in atlanta AND to bring the local music community together. it’s a sad excuse for a community and we need to do something about both these issues! 

3) Bright Hope. a book… i know, you may laugh, but i want to write a book. honestly, i want to compile a book. more to come on that. i’ve gotten some great encouragement and ideas from a few GREAT writing friends of mine. 

i’m pretty excited about all that’s to come. my favorite 2 words in life “we’ll see”. keeps coming out of my mouth. because let’s be honest, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. best to see how it all unfolds rather than try to plan every turn. 

what are you doing these days???

“singing freedom all my days…” -steve fee

it’s so funny to me how easily our perspective shifts! not only funny, but baffling, really. it’s becoming so clear to me where my safe zones are and where dangerous territory lies. how when life is finally inching its way into the healthiest place it’s been in a long time, you can almost instantly feel like it’s crashing down around you if you get far enough outside the parameters you’ve set. and how quickly we forget! and how quickly our minds are to turn against us and trick us!

but the truth of the matter is that we already “have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” we possess that power within us already. (it’s called the Holy Spirit.) so. it’s not like we have to ask God to give us that power anytime our minds start to go haywire on us… it’s already ours. and to take captive something as powerful as our thoughts? that’s serious freedom. so i was singing this morning at browns bridge and we sang all because of Jesus. and the line “i’m singing freedom all my days” just hit me. not gonna lie, i had a great and exhausting weekend, but i was in a tough place last night and this morning. and our first rehearsal and that first song out of the gate suddenly pushed things back into perspective. then we sang about our chains being undone. about how God’s fame is made great when we, as broken people, call His name. amazing

all that to say this: there’s something about singing (or speaking) truth, no matter how simple, that is redemptive and restoring to our souls. it’s simple as that. it’s exactly how we demolish the strongholds in our own brains that set themselves up against what we know to be true of God. how we take captive every thought and make it obedient. 

so there. sing in freedom. speak in truth. take captive every thought. and thank God that He is already rescuing us even before we call out to Him.

remix…

i don’t typically pull out an old post, (and this one is really old) but a friend called me today and left me a voicemail telling me she had just read it, and it brought her to tears. tears? really? that’s a humbling and hard to believe thought. but she was intentional enough to share her experience with me. i went back and read it myself today, and it’s definitely something i need to keep in mind… so here it is. again.

“i’m not afraid of life…” -the ramones

short and sweet… 3 major goals i’m ready to seriously hit! (yeah, it’s a bit mysterious, but i’m excited about it!) 

1) viola swamp

2) life.liberty.rock and roll.

3) bright hope

“oh, watch me go…” -martina mcbride

today was field trip day. i went to the oakland cemetery. wow. there’s a crazy amount of history there and so much to ponder. it’s a peaceful place. naturally. not as creepy as i had wondered if it would be. as i walked the upturned and broken brick walkways, the idea of life inevitably came up. not so much death, but more life. did you know… that there are over 70,000 people buried in that cemetery? about half of them are children. many of them are unknown soldiers from the civil war. margaret mitchell is there, bobby jones is there… i could go on with what i learned today, but i won’t bore you. plus… you should go learn it for yourself. fascinating. 

truth be told, i’m a happy happy lady these days. truly. if you know, even if you don’t… i’ve had a rough go of things this past winter. haven’t we all? but i feel like i was set free from a few things in life, some i set myself free from some i was released from. and these days, i simply feel liberation and freedom to do whatever i want. whatever i desire. and whatever i value. and so in focusing on answering the questions of what i truly want, desire, and value; i find myself valuing life. naturally. and pursuing healthy things in my own life. that includes physical, emotional, and psychological health. i’ve surrounded myself with honestly the most incredible people i could find, been writing a lot, been learning new things everyday like the guitar and history and anything else i can, been dancing in my living room and kitchen more, been engaging my own creativity in new ways, and been actively pursuing the big things i’ve always wanted to do with my life. 

God is teaching me so many things lately. so many things about myself and about Him. about what true happiness is and how simple life can be. how invigorating it can be. how empowered we truly already are. how to love the less than lovable by learning their stories. 

and i love it. i love finally pouring into myself and then turning around to pour into the people around me. i’ve got 3 major goals for life. i’ll venture out and share them soon i’m sure. they’re still a little fragile and vulnerable as it is, but they have huge potential. i find that not only do i WANT to do big things with my life, i’m READY to do big things with my life. now i need to find big minds to help me make that happen… interested?