The Good Shepherd pt 2

Today I want to invite The Good Shepherd and the Good Leaders into my life and allow all the faith hope and love they bring to overflow into the lives of those around me.

So today I’m going to speak about The Good Shepherd in a way that invites and congratulates good leadership.

What can we affirm here? In what way can we celebrate the Good Leaders in our life.

I’ll tell you one thing I’ve learned over the years (and from many bible stories) is that the Good Shepherds aka Good Leaders are rarely the elders in our lives. When you’re looking for guidance (or when we’re not) God will not hesitate to use a child, a stow away, a woman, our enemy whatever he deems best to be the Good Shepherd in our lives. I welcome that.

I am grateful that the Good Lord will lead us to quiet waters. I’m grateful that the good lord will use whatever it takes for us to listen to get us there. I welcome Good Shepherds in my life whether it be man, spirit, or the good word written from ancient times. Thank you to those of you in leadership who are completely themselves leading the way to more authentic life styles.

I will continue to rely on the fact that the Good Shepherd within me will always lead the way.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

Psalm 23:2

The Good Shepherd

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

John 10:11

Shepherd aka Leader

A good leader lays down his life to keep his flock. If one sheep strays he leaves the 99 to save that one sheep. (Matt 18:12) We aren’t Jesus but we should strive everyday to be like the leaders in our lives who inspire us.

What does it look like to lay down your life for your sheep? Fight off the predator, not the sheep right? So as a good leader what does this look like? It looks like putting yourself and your community at risk in order to understand those who are wandering. It means taking a risk by stepping away from the crowd in order to reconnect with the wanderer. We’re not fighting off literal wolves but we are expected to sacrifice ourselves for the community. When I say sacrifice I don’t necessarily mean take a bullet though that time could come, I mean sacrificing your reputation, your pride, and your fears.

According to this parable good leaders willingly sacrifice themselves to see their community thrive. And if that means stepping away from the community to find a wandering soul who is vulnerable to the darkness in this world, a good leader will do it.

It’s About You But It’s About Others Too

Creative freedom is a gift we have as humans beings. It liberates us from a world that would be just fine seeing us lose our life so that we can fit into their box. I started writing my For the Conscious Writer posts in 2020 with the intention of having it lead into a mentoring program. (I created a link in case you want to check out some of those posts on Medium.) I let fear and uncertainty knock me off track. I didn’t want to do it alone. I also didn’t want to make a fool of myself while developing a program that I care about so much. But no more! I’m not going to let fear keep me from being exactly who I want to be and who I’m excited to be.

Let’s break free!

Today I wanna bring up freedom to grow.

Freedom to grow, what does that even mean?

Freedom to grow as a writer is allowing yourself to expand into new places and spaces that will give you more experience, wisdom, and knowledge.

Why do we need freedom to grow?

Referring back to the definition, allowing ourselves freedom to grow gives us more experience, wisdom, and knowledge. As a bonus when we combine experience, wisdom, and knowledge with time to self-reflect and grow inward it naturally gives us power behind our message, confidence in our craft, and the strength to keep going when all seems lost. One of the most beautiful things that comes with allowing ourselves the freedom to grow is the ability to shine our light for others to see in the darkness. So many people are on their way to a path similar to yours. They don’t need to see your art to copy you (though getting copied might happen) they need to see your art so that they feel less alone. It can curb all sorts of ailments; depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts… So now we see the value of your freedom to grow extending from yourself to others, people you may never know.

Inspiration and Encouragement

I want my writing to inspire and encourage

Inspiration and encouragement are the two best gifts to give humans at any time in their life but most importantly at the perfect time in their life. At a point in a time where those two things were exactly what they needed. A book can easily inspire and encourage a human. Not that a book can be easily created but once created, a book can turn a human’s world upside down just to show them how much closer to the stars they are than they thought.

So I write for mainly those two reasons -top reason being for my mama. All else is just one more amazing thing that comes with writing.

Three Freedoms

Curiosity, Freedom, and Intensity

Interesting things happen when the creative impulse is cultivated with curiosity, freedom and intensity.

Saul Bass

Curiosity, freedom, and intensity where do we find those things?

Some artists might say those things find us when we’re working. There’s others that say you have to go out and search for it. I think we must find time for both working and learning to enjoy what life has to offer.

Just the Beginning

Sunday Reflections

I write about Three Freedoms but it’s just the beginning to a bigger idea. They are just the foundation and so is creative freedom. Once we as writers lay down the foundation of our three freedoms and begin trust the floor boards that are creative freedom, it gives us access to so much more.

What is the so much more that creative freedom gives us access to?

It gives us access to our deepest truths and it helps us share our content with the world in a more powerful and impactful way. Even more than that, it’s shared in a way that we can feel heard.

Fern Symbolism

Last post I wrote about turning over a new leaf. I chose a fern as the leaf for the featured image. Here’s some cool info about the symbolism of ferns.

Fiddleheads and ferns first show up in fossil records from a time over 100 million years BEFORE dinosaurs walked the Earth. In fact, ferns grew before flowering plants existed. Long ago, people couldn’t explain how ferns reproduced since they lack flowers or seeds. Fern seeds were thought to make one invisible!

Today we know that ferns truly don’t have flowers or seeds. How do they reproduce? They have “spores.” With sunlight and photosynthesis, the spores grow into what is called gametes which are able to fertilize the sperm and start to move it into the fern plant. This is completely different than anything that happens with any other sort of flower! No wonder people were confused.

Almanac.com

Many myths and mysteries surround the Fern, whose name originated from the Anglo-Saxon term “fearn”, meaning feather, due to the shape and pattern of its leaves.

symbolismandmetaphor.com

The ancient fern has a history rich in symbolism.  As mentioned above, ferns were seen as good luck, often for new lovers. The fern symbolizes eternal youth.

-To the indigenous Maori of New Zealand, the fern represented new life and new beginnings. 

-To the Japanese, the fern symbolizes family and the hope for future generations.

-According to Victorians, the fern symbolizes humility and sincerity.

Almanac.com
Three Freedoms

New Leaf

Think of the life you have lived until now as over and, as a dead man, see what’s left as a bonus and live it according to Nature. Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own, for what could be more fitting?

 Marcus Aurelius

I’ve decided to turn a new leaf. There’s no use in putting myself in places that aren’t for me or maintaining relationships that bring me down. I’ve always been a naturally positive person, even while I grieved, I had a smile on my face. I like people. I like watching people grow and expand and I love learning from those around me.

When I was a kid, I started school young since I had a September birthday. I just remember growing up being fascinated by all my peers as if they were something magic. I still find the magic in people but as a women in her late thirties I’m finally perceiving unconditional love within my own magic.

I chose this quote because it took learning to perceive my own value to truly understand how to love the hand that fate (if you believe in that kind of thing) “deals me” and how to play it as my own. At first thought it sounds easy. Sounds smug maybe even hedonistic but that’s not exactly right.

Learning to accept the cards you’re delt while also learning to use your own gifts and talents to play fate as your own, requires you to both be conscious of the cards being delt or in other words your surroundings and to be fully conscious of your own inner workings so that you can apply your own gifts and talents to the game.

This is where my old leaf has led me.

The Triptych

“There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly: sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.”

~ Ernest Hemingway

**Novel Update**

I’m trying to figure out an ending. Or if it is the end? I don’t know. We may never know. I’ve got 56 thousand words. I’m going to be honest, I waiting for my little one to be in school before I do any editing. I’m not doing many grammar edits yet. Mostly story maybe a bit of prose to entertain myself. Right now I’m focused on timeline, consistency, metaphors and symbols, and getting my character to find security in herself just the way she is.

I’m still having fun with this book. Wish I could do more but I’m happy I’m still going.