How do you see your world?

Okay, okay, I know I am way late to the party, but have you seen “Harry and Meghan” on Netflix? My dear friend and I turned it on a few weekends ago, planning to watch one episode over dinner. We were found sitting in the same spot finishing the series at 3pm the next day.

The docuseries follows the story of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s love story. They tell their side of a story that was brutally and unjustly covered by the media. If you haven’t seen it, I’d recommend it. I fell in love with them.

Harry said so many things worth quoting, but one thing he said was this: “We don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.” I couldn’t make sense of why those words struck me so much in the moment, but I pulled out my phone and quickly put them in a note.

I’ve found myself in some tough situations over the last two months. Situations that have left me disappointed and dysregulated. Even in the midst of some sleepless nights and foggy days, those words would come to mind. “We don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.”

I was sharing some of my heartache with my sister-in-law, and telling her that I just couldn’t figure out what to do. (That’s my Achilles heel. Always going to “What do I do,” before, “How do I want to be?”) She quickly and wisely answered me, “You know, I think you need to take a day, and just do things you love. Things that make you feel like you. And while you do those things, what you need will just come to you.”

She was so right.

I took it up a notch, and spent a whole week doing things I loved. I said to heck with my routines. After finishing work everyday, I went to my favorite greenhouse to just walk around, I spread out a blanket at the park and colored, I went on a walk in a park I’d never visited, I went to my pottery studio. By the end of the week, it was as easy as the snap of a finger to name everything I needed, and how I felt pulled to show up in the life I've been given. My nervous system had come back into rest and digest, and I could see the world around me more clearly.

In a state of stress, I saw the world as I was. Full of dead ends, dark, and hopeless.
In a state of peace, I saw the world as I was. Full of options, beauty, and goodness.

Sometimes, we just keep pushing, don’t we? Sometimes, we aren’t able to take a two week vacation the way we want to. But sometimes, we just need a change of scenery in the very places we live. We need to see something different with our eyes to remind our brains that things won’t always stay the same. Our hearts need the reminder that naming what we need, and moving towards whatever that is, is sometimes a lot easier than we thought. We need to come home to ourselves again, so we can see the world as it truly is, instead of through tired and fearful eyes.

A practice for caring for yourself

This month, my invitation to you is to get a change of scenery while doing something you love where you live. Go to a coffee shop you normally don’t go to, and read a new book. Visit a park you’ve never been to on the other side of town. Go park your car somewhere beautiful, and journal or eat a delicious lunch. Sit under the tree in the front yard instead of the one in the back. Take a day trip to a town 20-30 minutes away. Visit a museum. Take yourself on a picnic. Take a walk somewhere other than your go-to path.

One of my favorite things to do is to google things to do in my town, and pick something that I’d do if I were a visitor here. That always gives me good ideas that I never would have thought of on my own.

& simply notice what comes up. After changing up your routine, how do you feel in your body? What’s the state of your mind like? How are your emotions? Is there anything you see differently at all?

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A practice for connecting with God

I’m so thankful for so many of the things I learned about God growing up. It was modeled to me that the point of being a Christian was relationship with God. What I didn’t learn a lot about was how to have that relationship outside of morning quiet time. Read your bible, listen to worship music, and pray. That road-map was the main path to grow in relationship with God.

Over the last several years, I’ve learned that that’s not the only way. Jesus revealed a God to us who is Father, and gifted us a Holy Spirit who is Friend. What if every time you spent time with your dad, you did the exact same thing? What if every time you made plans with your friend, you went the exact same place and had the exact same conversation? What if when you were dating someone, you went on the exact same date every single time? You would only get to know the other person in a very limited and specific way.

While, yes, there is one thousand percent value in spiritual disciples and consistency in those practices, our relationship with God is not meant to be one dimensional.

This month, consider spending time with God in a new way. Invite God with you into something you enjoy doing. Invite Him into a place you feel most like yourself. This can look like ANYTHING! Cooking, gardening, knitting, painting, laying in a hammock, taking a walk, dancing - or something new altogether that you’ve never tried before.

And it can simply sound like, “God, I want to invite you into this space with me. Will you help me notice your presence here?” I’m always surprised by God’s heart for me when I do this.

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.” Romans 12:1-2 MSG

Something lovely

While there’s value in getting a small change of scenery on a more consistent basis, getting a more extended and bigger change of scenery when we can matters, too! And my friend, Melissa, has created something so, so lovely for those kinds of trips.

Melissa is the founder of Kindred Journaling Cafe, an online space for contemplative journaling practices. She offers so many beautiful things there, and if that sounds interesting to you at all, I’d highly recommend looking into her offerings.

But one of her newest offerings will be a Guided Travel Journal! It will be full of beautiful pages that will lead you through organizing the details of your trip, gathering paper souvenirs along your journey, and exploring the beauty around you with all of your senses. It will be available for presale later this summer, and you won’t want to miss it. I’ll be sure to remind you when it’s time! Follow Melissa for more details, but also because she’s just a lovely person to follow.

Summer is upon us, friends. And summer is the most perfect time to change up your routine, and try a new way of doing and seeing things. Feel free to send me pictures and messages of any lovely things you discover as you get a change of scenery this month. See you in July.

Your Softie Friend,
Kiersten