12 Words That Could Change Everything

From politics to vocation, this simple advice is making a difference

The temperatures here in central North Carolina have dropped into the 40s and it’s cold in my morning chair. I grab a blanket, throw it over my lap, and continue to stare out the window as I’m prone to do.

This time last year we were silently navigating what felt like a truly impossible medical situation in our family. Looking back, I know it wasn’t impossible because here we are. I still click the heart button every time I see that quote on Instagram that says You’ve survived 100% of your worst days.

The morning sun peeks through the leaves in the backyard, leaves that will only be around for a few more weeks until they drift from their branches and scatter the yard. That’s when our rooms will be brighter, the sky easier to see. But for now, I can only see a starburst sun behind them, rising up for another Autumn day.

I reach for my journal as my coffee gets cold and write down all the things I feel anxious about. This is what soul minimalists do, I’ve decided. In the same way a minimalist might ask, What am I holding on to? and then purpose to declutter what they can, a soul minimalist asks, What has a hold on me? And the easiest way for me to access that is to write it all down, bullet point style.

What anxieties, questions, hangups, fears, envies, and distractions are lurking beneath the surface of me? How would I name the river rushing beneath the bridge of my life?

From our feelings around the US election to discerning our vocational direction, here are the twelve words I keep returning to for hope, motivation, and direction. It’s something my sister has been saying for years and is the guiding principle of her most recent book, House Rules:

“Do what you know.

Use what you have.

Finish what you started.”

—Myquillyn Smith

Much like do the next right thing, these three sentences give us some accessible handrails to grab when the ground beneath us is unstable and the road ahead unsure.

Those things that clutter up the soul can be hard to know and name because they are (mostly) invisible. But if someone else knows and names their own soul clutter, it can be easier to see your own. 

True to form and in keeping with my promise when I started this Substack, here’s how I’ve been applying these three lines to my own life lately.