30 Days of Hope
Grief, Hope, and the Storytelling that Takes Us from Here to There
I turn 39 this month.
I love having a July birthday because it serves as nice perforated line to tear away from failures in the first half of the year and start a new page. Over the course of the next year, I’m not concerned with accomplishing goals as much as I am with becoming a better version of myself. For the next 365 days, my only goal is to get into the best mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical shape of my life.
One key component of that journey is writing. (Well, not just writing, but sharing my writing with you!)
So I made a commitment to write every day for the next 30 days on grief, hope, and the storytelling that bridges the two.
Here’s 3 Reasons Why:
The Little Things Make the Biggest Difference - I remember reading Atomic Habits and being struck by how powerful process-based goals can be. It changed my life. I’m constantly drawn back to the analogy James Clear used about brushing teeth.
You can have a great smile by brushing for 2 minutes at a time twice a day. But you can’t go for six months without brushing and then try to make up for it by brushing for 730 minutes before your next dentist visits. When it comes to your teeth, daily consistency is more important than total amount of time. That’s the power of habits. The little things make the biggest difference. That’s why I’m writing to you daily. I want you to be my accountability.Ideas Don’t Help Anyone If They Stay In Your Head - I’m a procrastinator because I’m a perfectionist. I put things off because I’m scared they’ll be trash if I put them out. My notes app and notebooks are full of half-baked thoughts that could do some good in the world if I just finished cooking ‘em. So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be throwing stuff up against the wall over the next few weeks to see what sticks. And I’ll trust that if it’s good, you’ll tell me. If it’s not, then maybe you can tell me how I can make it better? Deal?
“You’re the grief guy” - I remember taking my daughter to see Super Mario Bros a few weeks ago and was greeted with that phrase over my left shoulder from a woman I did not know. She knew me from my IG content and quickly said something to the effect of I’m sorry, you don’t know me, but I’ve found your content helpful, thanks for putting it out.
I’ve had so many serendipitous encounters over the past 11 weeks that I’ve committed to putting one thing out in the world per day that talks about grief and hope that I figured, I would keep that streak going with a different medium.
So over the next 30 days, I plan on writing about Grief, Hope, and how practices of storytelling can be the bridge to take us from the former to the latter and back again.
Join me on this journey—and let me know if you have any questions along the way!
I’m beyond excited to connect with y’all more consistently.
Here’s the learning how to tell our stories better!
Peace!
Day 1/30 - 30 Days of Hope
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This resonates! I’m a teacher of writing (middle school) that gets so wrapped up in my own head and need to be perfect that I barely write. This is a good challenge. Thanks for your transparency and consistency (in advance). Looking forward to all the ideas that flow from this challenge! And thanks for what you’ve already written as your words and sermons have already helped me tremendously.
I’m looking forward to this consistent view into your craft of storytelling. It is truly a gift to creatively communicate grief and hope through writing. No verbal or non-verbal cues -- just the heart tug from a string of words. Can’t wait!