The Faith Within

This is an excerpt from the weekly News-Loveletter. If you would like it sent to your inbox directly (with all the other juicy bits, including a mini joy practice), you can add yourself to my mailing list here.

I’ve learned a thing or two from Leo, and I doubt he ever aimed to teach me. Let’s pause and consider that. As parents and stewards, we seek to “teach” children skills so they can access the world. We get excited to teach each other many things, regardless of age, with an intention to contribute.

And here’s Leo. He wants something. With his whole heart and mind, he wants it. With every hair, muscle, and fiber of his being, he is wedded to not only his desire but his utter Faith that the ball can and will fly.

Did I learn from him that I’m a sucker for that look? Did he school me with his Jedi mindtricks, operating my appendages like a marionette? I’m not going to say no, ok, I’m not. But that’s only the front end of the story.

Leo has no room for thought of schooling me. Leo has Faith in the flight of that ball. What do I have faith in? What project of mine has been sitting on the ground and wants to fly? Maybe I can skip the step of running after the means of realizing my dream and just focus hard on the dream and see what happens. That’s pretty much how Collier Connections was born, come to think of it.

For myself at the moment, I want to learn to take better pictures.

When I say it plain like that to you, my faith solidifies. My stomach bumps against my heart and tears press the backs of my eyes. I really want this. That lift in my heart, I’m not letting go of it. I love the feeling from creative expansion, imagining ways I can offer my lens to the world.

I learned from Leo to believe and to let the folks closest to me know that I believe. I learned to keep my attention on what I want, even if it seems impossible. (Between filming and editing YouTube videos, sharing my joy practice, and running this business while working another job, when will I learn to take pictures?) Wondering how and when is not a part of Faith.

If a ball that is sitting in the grass can launch into flight, why not my dream too?

What project of yours calls for faith? Can you imagine it flying? Can you playfully envision it taking off, soaring through the strastosphere? And can you tell someone dear to you what you just kindled Faith in?