DO...UBT

Don’t suck”…This phrase… advice for bloggers…staring me in the face…

Too late! I had already created a blog spot and posted 2 blogs before I read this. The quote, from the e-book “One Body, Many blogs” by T.J. Burdick was submitted by Marc Barnes of “Bad Catholic Blog”. It was from an article titled “Ten commandments for faith bloggers”, posted in the News Sentinel by Terry Mattingly. (Please don’t run away because I used the word Catholic). I hadn’t really categorized myself as a faith blogger either…but if it walks like…and talks like… O.K. you get the idea. No apologies!

“Don’t suck”? …allowing me to ask the question why was I doing this? …To show the world I can’t write?  To show the world I have no new ideas to infuse? I had rarely searched out blogs but decided to check out “Bad Catholic”. The title suggested a little rebellion and that totally interested me.

The Nov. 14 2012 blog was titled, “Better Than Nothing”.  The author opened with, “All things come from and tend towards Nothing”. Was this statement meant for me in this circumstance? Doubt was rarely part of my vocabulary, but this “Pregnancy Redefined” might be bigger than my capability. It was obvious the writer had developed his craft. His writing was that of a well honed artisan…mine of a newborn! I was captured by the complexity of his writing; each statement building upon the last. His ultimate conclusion “sin requires nothing, it’s always the easiest action to perform, but virtue requires effort and resistance. Sin is surrender. Virtue is resistance. Perhaps it is absurd – believing we can win – but it seems to me a far better thing than nothing”.

The message was very clear… doing something is “Better Than Nothing”… but it better not suck! It needs to be awesome!

But…It takes a long time to develop a craft! Often it starts with a suggestion from others. Often it starts from a desire within.

In Junior High School, my friend would knock on my bedroom window to have a fun game of badminton. I enjoyed the lightness of the racquet and the shuttlecock (although, at the time, had no idea what that little projectile was called). It would fly through the air with extreme ease, and I could fly with it for a few moments in time. I felt lighter… freer…  more connected to life. We could rally back and forth, striking a rhythm… no one attempting to outsmart the other…just two friends trying to stay in the game for the sheer pleasure of it.

In order to get outside and play, my friend would eloquently tell me what to write. She was happy to share… and I was happy to accept…freedom at a cost!  

It’s still ironic that I should be writing now, but that penny story set me on this path late in life. For me, it has been, and still is a way to express my inner thoughts…no craft involved….unless…?

In Junior High School, my daughter developed a love of singing. At age 15 she settled on Opera, and it became evident that the musical talent and training melded into the craft she now exhibits.

She knew about my penny stories and so called  me to describe her encounter. She had entered a practice room, and there lined up on the piano were 15 pennies, sporting the “In God We Trust” logo. She was hoping this Opera Company would be the one to hire her… a great sign of God’s divine providence.

I have been in the audience when she is performing her art, and it is like the badminton game. I felt lighter…freer…and more connected to life. The rhythm of performer and audience joining together for the sheer pleasure of it!

She had not received a callback, she was back on the road again, another audition on the horizon…searching for the place that would recognize her gift to give. Gift perfected with practice!

All that trouble about doubt!

What idea is floating in the back of your mind waiting to take flight? Call it, name it and do it with as much passion and determination you can muster, all with an “In God We Trust” mindset!

Can you DO this?...YOU BET! ... Do!...ubt!

See you next time...God willing! God bless!