Years ago, a mentor of mine from afar asked if we could talk over the phone. I was writing for their website, still an unpublished author and starving artist juggling multiple jobs and hats in life. I was finding my voice and terrified of it at the same time. I wasn’t afraid of failure; I was afraid of success and losing the woman I had fought so hard to become in the name of brand building and standing out. 

His words still return to my heart when I need a reminder to stop trying so dang hard and just write with my walls down. His words were a gift, his advice life-altering: 

“Stay messy and unresolved in your writing.” 

The only way to accomplish the unnerving and vulnerable task of bleeding on paper was to sacrifice ego and my tendency to lean towards perfectionism. Perfectionism left me stifled instead of empowered and vulnerability unlocked doors and healed a few hearts — mine most of all. 

Industries are terrified. It’s business as “unusual” instead of methodical and structured. It is church without walls and loving people we can’t hold but ache to. 

It’s messy and unresolved. It’s uncharted and unwanted. It’s learning to ask for help and realizing that the big, humbling “ask” is strength wrapped in weakness. It feels counterintuitive when you were brought up to be independent, fight for what you wanted, and to hold on to hope with a death-grip. But someone needs to be needed by you. Swallow some pride; I know it burns a little going down, but this is how overcomers get back up after the knockout round. And we WILL get back up. 

None of us know how to navigate uncharted waters, but we sure as heck know how to paddle. Forget division and finger-pointing, the most revolutionary thing we can do now is come together and pray for God to heal our land by starting with our hearts.

Books are still being launched during a pivotal time in our history. Art is still being made, words are still finding blank pages, and people are returning to what matters most — God-given purpose. Pay or no pay, our callings will not fade.

Now more than ever, people crave authentic connections with others. We have all the time in the world as we figure out new ways to love people at a safe and necessary distance. 

Forget platform. Forget numbers and clever hashtags so people can deem you relevant. Forget building a brand and bow your heads instead. Ask God to remind you why you started. 

Dear Creatives and those trying to find a new normal, stay messy and unresolved, pain makes the best art.

Dear Momma, it’s okay if you are losing your cool homeschooling for the first time.

It’s okay work-from-home folks if work seems harder than ever because your tiny co-workers need to be held longer than usual.

It’s okay if your teenagers are driving you mad.

Give yourself grace upon grace during this hard time, none of us really know what we are doing and that is okay! We might be depleted, but we serve a God who never runs out of what we need.

“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (John 1:16)

So much love to you,

Jennifer Renee