You, My Dear Girl, Are Not Alone

This weekend I went to the Hope*Writers workshop in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was inspiring and intellectually disruptive in the right kind of way, and it gave me a chance to spend some serious time thinking about my writing. But one of the best parts of the weekend was getting to connect with some really amazing women.

On the last day of the workshop, as is typical at this sort of event, there was a call to action. We each wrote down one actionable goal in regards to our writing that we committed to accomplish in the next six weeks. Then the facilitators made a similar commitment to mail us our goal, and asked each of us to walk to the front of the auditorium and drop our envelopes in a basket.

The act had all the personal impact you would expect- I felt the commitment solidifying in my heart as I physically stood up and moved my body through the motions of decision. And it felt really good.

Then I sat back down and watched the rest of the women around me stand up and do the same. Hundreds of lovely, remarkable women making decisions to create change in their own individual worlds, through the power of their writing.

In that moment, I saw the lightbulb in my head, and I realized this- if every single woman here follows through on her goal, that's a lot of serious change. There is limitless power in this room. We really can make a difference.

A lot of this life journey feels almost unbearably solitary at times, each one of us a lone pilgrim treading the uneven terrain in quiet, desperate pursuit of our dreams. We sew the seeds of our plans in the quiet stillness of night, and pray for the strength to till the soil with devotion in the morning.

We don't often get to witness the compound effect of our choices, to see ourselves in a larger context. We don't see how we are one of many, a thread in a tapestry, woven in among countless other peacemakers toiling towards redemption. We are an army, and we are not alone.

I saw all of this in that one moment, and I felt an indescribable sense of hope. We do have power. We are power, and we are harnessing that power to make a positive difference in our world.

What a beautiful thing.

So, my dear fly girls, know this today. You are not alone. You are an army, and there are many others like you, with you, and rooting for you today from afar.

Your choices, decisions, and commitments matter. They hold weight, purpose, and promise. If I will keep my promises and you will keep yours, then together we will do some seriously great things.

We are in this together, and we will make a difference- together.

Cheers to you, all of my dear sisters. May grace and peace find you on your journey today.