Thank God for the public library.
A quiet, FREE, place to work. I’ve started coming here for sanity and inspiration.
I often work from home these days, so there is real sanity in not feeling the tug to do the dishes, clean the garage or, you know, take a nap.
The inspiration is two tables away where a kind old lady is helping another old lady, new to the country, learn English. This is a place people come when they need to figure out how to do something new. Inspiration.
I’ve chased my tail some a bit this past year, until I heard what felt like a word from the Lord. “DUDE. Chill out. I’ve got this. Take comfort and rest. You know what you’re good at doing. Do that. I’ll meet you there.”
So I tried to do that. To chill out. Rest. Work hard but not frantic. And to create and serve people. Those are the two things I’m halfway decent at. (I know that's poor grammar. Don't care.)
That has looked like The Pivot. Hard, good work that has gotten the best response of anything I’ve done in years. Season two will start next week and I'm so jazzed.
It’s looked like writing and recording a new album. It’s the story of the chasing of the tail and the struggle to rest and trust. I finished the last background vocal Monday morning and sent it off to my buddy Shane to mix. I’m the happiest with it I’ve been with anything in many years. Can’t wait for you to hear it.
It’s looked like consulting, which is a fancy word for helping. I know what it’s like to be an artist without a clear sense of what to do next and I also have learned a few things from my twenty years doing all sorts of different jobs in music. I get to sit with new friends and help them figure out goals, plans and how to better communicate the stories on their hearts. What a treat.
In the process of making and serving, the Lord has provided. It’s not super lucrative and it’s not without its moments of absurd busyness or sheer terror or whatever else, but it’s so much better than it was. I love sharing stories. I love playing music. I love people in the fight to become better versions of themselves. I love the work I get to do and I trust it’s adding something good to a world which never seems to have enough beauty or friendship.
And God has, truly, been meeting me here.
In the library.
(Which I'm now leaving, because I'm starving.)