{Keep Calm and Hope}

“Hope is not about proving anything. It's about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us.”

-Anne Lamott

Ann Lammott could be one of my favorite people ever and if I could have a coffee and chat with her sometime in my life I'd die a happy woman. Her books are authentic, funny, insightful and full of faith and grace. The first book I read of hers Traveling Mercies planted ideas about healthily living and loving long before I was able to really grasp how to live the truths for myself. What I appreciate about her so much, beside her amazing victory over addiction oh and her writing style...ok I appreciate a lot of things. But she is a straight shooter. And talks to word of my people...if you catch what I mean. It's hard to dole out bullshit excuses after I read her. Here is a certainty I need burned in my brain. It should have been branded on me at birth. Right on my behind as a warning label...I don't need to prove anything. Preaching it. I've struggled with good times of not giving a hoot and blazing my own trail. And other times, oh let's say since 2009 or so I've felt this knawing to prove something. It's honestly the truest form of insanity I've ever encountered. A no-win contest and makes me miserable. And underneath all of this neurosis is the question "to who am holding these standards to?" Love is big and the scope of how to apply true loving to my life is a journey I honestly have just begun. I can't begin to describe how hope feels to me these days...and I shouldn't have to prove it:)