Can we deliver amazing work— while also feeling like a complete disaster? You betcha! Sometimes we gotta do both. Today we discover some grace for ourselves. It’s the tiny, bold move of “both.” Last week we learned the Yoga of Deep Surrender. Your responses were so moving! ❤️🔥 Keep practicing. We need to know when to let go of the oars. Today, I’ll invite you onstage with my daughter and I to sing. Short video below. Spoiler alert: you’ll never feel totally ready. Fortunately, life and Spirit have prepared you beautifully to let it rip. Do you believe you’re about to (((GLOW))) all Summer long? -KC
Human words matter. Forever.
Words come knocking early on Tuesdays. Flooding my mind. Lining up beside my alarm clock, pitching ideas for what we think you need. Words playing ding-dong, ditch. Words like the subtle relationship between feeling, healing, and reeling. Someone I respect uses AI for LinkedIn posts. If I had time to read regurgitated robot bullshit, I would’ve raised my hand for that. It felt groty. The words landed soulless, and jagged. But yeah, I respect the convenience. Just don’t waste my time. Us mere mortals still need to audition words. “Don’t call us, we’ll call you!”
Long ago I met a hero of mine. Victor Wooten is an advanced master on the electric bass. He’s been touring as a pro bassist since the age of 4. His older brothers are monster musicians, and they poured everything into Vic. He’s only gotten better, kinder, wiser, and somehow more entertaining to watch.
So when I interviewed my hero for a college radio station, I was nervous. I had my bass with me. I wanted a pic of him playing my 6-string bass. Do you know what the maestro did? He said, “I have more fun, and learn more by watching you play. There are no wrong notes.” I did my thing, and the Jedi master was pleased. Giving me a little moment to glow gave him a deeper satisfaction, and me a bit more confidence.
How much of our lives are left on the cutting room floor of “getting it right”, or “this is all wrong”? Editing our potential, to appear as if we know what the hell we’re doing? It's been more fun lately to be out living, than inside on social media— posting about living. AI can’t capture me tearing my motorbike down old country roads at 70 mph. Singing chants into the sunlight, the sweet smell of early summer grass.
Today’s tiny, bold move is both.
We can’t assume when life gets hard, we must be jacking everything up. That we are walking dumpster fires, tainting everything we touch. We are extensions of something infinitely powerful— both malfunctioning, while becoming increasingly high-functioning.
If we were trees, our lives happen in the growth rings. Year by year, out from the center. Our experience claiming another layer. Linear time making us stronger, taller, and thicker. Except our complex brains and bodies don’t process time that way.
We think about that time lightning struck us. Caught us on fire. Burned down all our friends. It is always both— the beauty, and sad reality of being human, that once fresh trauma blows our circuits, we push it down. Within a couple years, it’s already a few growth rings deep. We’ve continued growing around it, not too keen on feeling once again how big it was, or wondering how we even survived it. Our Maker gave us that test. Gave us a healthy dollop of trauma to strengthen our growth rings. And also, gave us built-in protection of not having to relive the pain indefinitely. It’s all by design. Immaculate, compassionate design.
All we have is both. Life asked: what’s it gonna be, girl? You wanna be a Mom, or a CEO? An artist, or an executive coach? An addict, or a survivor?
And we say:
both: the strength to endure it, and the awareness to learn from it
both: the shock to the system, and the power to adapt to it
both: the dissatisfaction of our malfunctioning, and the Grace of just how high-functioning we’ve become
both: the Maker’s favorite little toy, and the magic of being more fun to play with because of my brokenness
both: the humble disciple, and the blessing of the guru
both: the lonely wave on the open sea, and the potential to become the ocean itself
both: the darkness of our fear, and the audacity to glow brilliantly within it
We are high-functioning— not despite our malfunctioning. Our souls sing like Stradivarius violins. No matter how much lightning scorched the forests we grew up in. Over time, we learn there weren’t as many wrong notes as we thought. We only keep showing up to share our gifts. With each year, we enjoy any opportunity to sing or play for others that much more.
Like God taught me through the mastery of Victor Wooten:
“we learn more, and have more fun by hearing others do it. There are no wrong notes.”
Relax. (Chill). Feel it all. Get on with glowing. With serving. Trust the Maker has given you the perfect tests to tune your instrument.
Turns out we never needed to choose. We are both, and we are so much more. Our daughter and I sang together last Friday. We were both in a spin cycle of feels all week along. She reminds me what I helped her learn— that when you can’t budge the deadline, or your set time, all that’s left is to stand and deliver. I will glow, you will glow, WE will glow.
What a voice on this kid! 🔥 She’s 19. First time we performed this live she was 8. Eleven years of tests, rehearsals, lessons, and shows.
Join us, 1-minute video
Special thanks to my Mother in-law Dolli Gold for this video. And, the first video of us back in 2013.
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