02 Jan of sin and salvation

“And I prayed to sweet Jesus, don’t let me become a backslider!”

-The Toadies, Backslider

I am the teacher from Charlie Brown.  In my head, all I hear is “wah wah whomp wah whomp wah wah.”  The slow drain of my laptop battery toward zero is an apt metaphor for life right meow.  21%.  17%.  14%.  Operator error.  Does not compute.  If you do not plug in soon, you will die.  I need a to recharge.

As I reflect back on 2018, I just feel tired.  This year has been a grind.  I have one more semester of graduate school left followed by 3000 hours of post-grad internship.  Someday, I will  become a licensed professional counselor.  I had this romantic vision that when I stepped into my dream, I would be bathed in sunlight, the angels would sing, and I would stand in eternal bliss.  Shockingly the Universe missed this memo. 

However, I have been fortunate to relearn a few indelible lessons this year.  First, music and art are transformative.  Second, community and connection are integral to my well-being.  And third, service to others, which embraces love and empathy, is the foundation for a life well-lived.  But, until I sat down to write this blog post, I had no idea how these concepts would intersect as I move forward into 2019.

 At the beginning of the year, I wrote about a plan to start a nonprofit.  You can read about it here.  Well, somewhere along the line, life happened.  My plan did not get very far.  In fact, it barely got out of my head and into that blog post.  On the bright side of things, writing about the idea planted a seed in my head that has slowly germinated over the course of 2018. 

The idea is fairly simple – bring others together to forge authentic connection through a non-profit focused on creativity and service to others.  But, this time, instead of writing about taking action in the future, I am writing about the actions I have already taken.  No more backsliding.  Here are a few things I have done to make the non-profit a reality:

• Created a Facebook group;
• Written a draft mission statement;
• Researched the legal requirements of the formation and operation of a 501(c)(3);
• Started a dialogue with a few close friends about the concept and about forming a board of directors;
• Procured a website domain and paid for 6 months of hosting; and
• Drafted a six-month timeline for funding, forming and launching the non-profit.

Here’s the thing, though… this is not an individual endeavor.  I won’t be able to do this without your help – whatever that looks like to you.  What will you bring to the table?  What makes you, you?