A Permission Slip For Living

Issue #18, April 25, 2023

Dear Me,

A little bird told me that you might need some reminders about how to go about life in this world. Don’t worry, I’m here to help.

Your Permission Slip for Living

Today you have permission to feel the pain of yesterday’s conflict, the one that didn’t end the way you wanted it to end. 

You have permission to feel the gap in your skills, compared to those who are more talented than you are.

You have permission to feel the longing for everyone you care about to be without pain and struggle. 

You have permission to feel the deep frustration that your body doesn’t respond to discipline and micromanagement. 

You have permission to feel all of the big feelings. 

Or not. 

You are doing the best that you can.

Here’s a little secret, just between you and me:

There is nothing you can do to eliminate the fact that there are people who are twenty times better at art and writing than you are. There will always be someone better. (Is that really why you are an artist, anyway? To beat everyone else?)

There is nothing you can do to prevent your aging body from having its say. It’s part of you. (And if you look closer, you might find that it has carried you through some pretty tough times. Maybe it deserves a break?)

There is nothing you can do to take all of the pain and struggle away from the people that you love. It’s not actually your job. (And this world is broken, remember?)

You are doing the best that you can. 

You have permission to stop observing yourself from the outside, judging how you look and how you act. 

You have permission to stop responding in fear when life is not going the way you thought it would. (Here’s looking at you: Every. Single. Day.)

You have permission to inhabit the actual life you are living instead of always wondering how it would be different “if”-so many if’s. 

You have permission to keep showing up even though you know you’ll keep making mistakes.

You have permission to keep turning things over to Jesus and then spend time with Him in the quiet with a cozy blanket.

You have permission to take the next breath, to do the next thing, and to stay curious about what will happen after that.

Why?

Because you are doing the best that you can.

Love,
You

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From the Sketchbook

A little round up of things that haven’t made it into my newsletters this month.

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Over the weekend, I participated in a watercolor workshop with Samantha Dion Baker and Ohn Mar Win. Realistic painting isn’t my usual style but it was good to be challenged and also be reminded of my first art supply love, watercolors. For the workshop we painted everyday objects from our kitchen and bathroom.

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Favorite Finds

Podcast: This episode of The Stories Between Us Podcast was part of what motivated me in the earliest days of this newsletter. Shawn and Maile helped me imagine that somewhere out there, people might like what I make with my hands and with words. According to them, I just had to keep looking. And this newsletter has been part of that search for “my people”.

Newsletter: Last week I mentioned the new book Create Anyway: The Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood by Ashlee Gadd. I picked my copy up from the library earlier this week and I can already tell this is the book I that needed when I was a young mom, full of creative energy but unsure how it fit with diaper changes and play dates at the park. Here’s an interview with author, Ashlee Gadd.

Book: I don’t know about you but my head stays pretty loud and this week the world combined with my noisy head, made for quite the cacophony. As part of my morning reading, Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton, has helped me enter into ten minutes of silent prayer near start of my day.

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Words to Consider

When I begin to feel frustrated about where I’m at in life, in my skills, and when anxiety starts to turns up the heat, I remember these words:

“And when the heart is full of quietness

Begin the song exactly where you are.”

-Malcolm Guite, excerpt from his poem, The Singing Bowl

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Blessings from the Guest Nest,

-Aimee

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