What if I told you I'm a mastermind?
In which we are all Taylor Swift and how our souls depend on it
I’ve had some big decisions to make in the past seven days which is why I’ve listened to all eight episodes of Scamanda (why is she like this?!) and memorized every word of Taylor Swift’s Mastermind (why am I like this?).
I now realize in this very moment a case could be made for how those two things are eerily related in an unrelated kind of way, but I’ll move on from it.
I’ll tell you what you already know: the world cares not that it’s the middle of the week in the middle of July in the actual middle of the year. There’s no real time off for the grown ups so we have to figure out how to do our work, make tough calls, take care of those we love, and ourselves, too.
Two years ago I heard MaryKate Morse teach on the inner life of a leader; about the importance of being vigilant and ruthless about our inner life through developing strategies and skills to root us in Christ and stay healthy for the long haul.
Ruthlessly vigilant for the sake of our inner life. This is the work of a soul minimalist. This is the work of a mastermind, minus the Machiavellian undertones.
How can we lay the groundwork so that the dominoes cascade* in the direction of hope? So that when the moment of decision arrives, our inner posture is turned toward the good and beautiful, even in the middle of hot, chaotic, foggy-minded July?
Starting this newsletter, I set an intention to explore communally what discernment looks like in real time to the extent that I am able. So here are three things I’ve practiced in the last seven days that have kept me from spinning all the way out: