Hi. Do you like the new site? When I asked my mom, just a few minutes ago she said she missed the old site. She liked the new, but it’d take some getting used to. That’s okay. I’m still adjusting as well. There are probably still a couple bugs. But I was just so eager to get it all back up and running, I figured I’d unearth them with the site running live.
Tonight I’m going to share a little bit of my heart with you. A struggle that I’ve faced for quite some time. A struggle that lead to writing in the first place, and now…writing here in this moment. More will be coming up as I launch our first ever “Art of Living” feature on Thursday. That’ll be awesome, but for now, you are stuck here. With me. Maybe what I’ve been feeling will strike a chord with you. Or maybe you’ll leave feeling better about yourself, because that girl who writes that thing is such an unimaginable hot mess. Either way, I’m glad you are here.
A good chunk of my post-college years have been spent feeling very lost. Lost because I long to be a person of success, a person who leaves a mark, but I just don’t know how to do it. I’ve felt unsatisfied in jobs and unsatisfied in the way my life was shaping up. I have spent hours crying over my frustration to just figure it out, or become content without.
For a long time I felt alone in this struggle, like I was the only person who just couldn’t get it together. But in the past year, I’ve learned that this isn’t something I’m facing all by myself. I think there are a lot of us who feel lost and confused. Confused about what we should be doing, unfulfilled in our work, lost in a shuffle of making ends meet. That feeling of just not knowing what to do with your life, despite education, family life, and experience. It’s easy to feel alone in this. Especially when you look around and everyone seems to have it together. Then you look at your own life. It feels out of control, or like it’s falling apart, or that it simply hasn’t turned out how you’d pictured it.
I’ve come to learn that I’m not alone in this problem. I’m not alone in feeling like life is a slippery art form I just can’t master.
But in my soul. In my very core I have a rock-hard, guttural instinct that we are here for a purpose. And even the most confused, broken, mixed up, unfulfilled of us can master living and leave a legacy. All of us.
I believe we all want to live a life of purpose. Everyone wants to believe that their life will leave and impact. And it can.
I started mulling this thought over and over. There are people out there who are living and living well. In reality, I think very few people feel like they have it ALL together. But there are definitely people who have mastered pieces of life. I see them. They are all around me. People young and old and middle aged, working on a life’s calling. Loving what they do. Making a difference. Being unique. Collecting experiences that will make lovely bedtime stories for their grand children.
For months I’ve taken note of these people. I’ve admired them from afar. I’ve spent hours over cups of coffee and chai tea wondering what they know that I don’t…and wishing I had the guts to talk to them and ask them to teach me. Then one day, I decided I was sick of wondering. I decided to ask, knowing that the worst they could tell me is “No, I don’t want to share my secrets with you.” And the best that could happen is that I’d take my first step on the road to mastering the art of living.
The art of living is about learning from others, taking steps toward becoming the person you dream of being and living your life to its fullest, greatest potential.
And that’s what the Art of Living Project is all about. I genuinely appreciate each and every one of you who has read, stopped by, pinned a post, laughed along and welled up in tears at something you’ve seen on the blog. My thoughts have been a bit scattered, my writing theme has been pretty random. But at the root of all of it is my search for success, a quest to master the art of living, to do more, and life more wholly for the Lord. I hope you’ll continue to read and share. I hope the new {improved} clarity in direction of my writing will inspire you, us, in ways we never expected.
See you tomorrow.
Amy
