Encouragement is an act of Service
Sometimes, there are hurdles in life that we can't quite overcome just yet. Like the pole vaulter in this collage, he's made plenty of attempts but has found himself wedged right at the tip of the building. That’s how I’ve been feeling lately. All I can do is take it as inspiration and create work to counterbalance my frustration. I love it when a collage comes together effortlessly.
It didn't help that I came down with Covid last week, my first time after dodging it for four years. Prior to 2024, I haven’t gotten sick in 13 years. I felt awful the first few days when the symptoms began: muscle aches, fever, congestion, a runny nose, and a cough. Laying in bed at night sent a deluge of negative thoughts. I prayed to restore peace to my mind and heart. I prayed to help me sleep through the night. God heard me. Gratitude filled my heart when I woke up feeling calm the morning after.
Once the worst was over, I spent a few days on the patio, enjoying the mid-morning cool breeze. Meditating has also helped quiet my mind. Having a few cups of tea has been comforting. Rooibos and Genmaicha are my favorites. Yesterday, a Zoom call with a good friend lifted my spirits.
Two days ago, I finally tested negative, so I am on the mend, albeit slower than I'd like. Rest and recovery have their own timeline; it can't be rushed. It is certainly a lesson in patience!
A few months ago, I heard this uplifting quote from Rainn Wilson:
Encouragement is maybe the most pure service that we can offer another person. Love is interesting as a concept, but I think also culturally we struggle to understand, believe it or not, I think we struggle to understand what love is because we only have one English language word for love and so many other languages I hear. Love isn’t a feeling in the chest. Love is an action, it’s only borne out in action. It doesn’t even really matter what the internal impulse is for that action. But encouragement of another person, I think, is, is one of the most sincere and pure acts of love.
—Rainn Wilson, Interview with Kate Bowler at Everything Happens
I caught up with my subscriptions and placed hearts of encouragement to posts that inspired and lifted me up this week. Thank you, Anne, Grant, Duane, Susanne, and Rebecca! So many more have perked me up, but there's not enough space to include them here. Thank you to all the writers, photographers, and artists who continue to show up and share your work here on Substack. What you do matters!
Thank you Ann for this beautiful collage and a reminder to create art as a vehicle to process our inner life and emotions.
It’s the process and power of making. I’m in awe of the process. The act of journaling brought concrete ideas to the fore and resulted in a collage that I like very much. The act of tearing the photos, of piercing holes in the paper, of stitching everything back together, of visually grounding it to the earth… all of that allowed me to move through the shame, to create something beautiful out of something uncomfortable and dark, and, ultimately, to feel whole again.—
Grant Snider’s comics brought a smile to my face via
On Suffering:
Pain and suffering shouldn’t be romanticized or seen as idealistic. Pain and suffering aren’t indications of artistic prowess. They aren’t signs of growth or maturity. But accepting them, using them, creating something with the fuel of their presence, is. —
In this collage, Duane reminded me of my own strength:
your stronger heart - vintage and contemporary fragments on 4x6 index card. Collage art by
A walk in the woods with
took my mind off my worries.
And lastly,
‘s recollection of an unprecedented storm that blew through her UK town in October of 1987 and its aftermath brought back memories of typhoons, black and brownouts in Manila. A lovely read!
See you all next Sunday!
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Such a heartening post, full of harnessed strength and power!
Gosh, I'm so sorry that you've had Covid. I haven't had it (yet!) but there's a whole load of it about at the moment. Hope you're back up to strength jolly soon.
Thank you so much for the mention - you're very kind! 😘
Thanks so much for including me in this stunning collection along side your beautiful and earnest thought! So glad our paths crossed here!