Welcome to Volume 1 of the Tao Out Loud newsletter where we’re finding everyday magic, every day! If you’ve come here by chance, or a friend passed this on, I hope you’ve come to stay. Sign up below so you don’t miss a thing.
Sections
Parcel Post (An essay that continues from volume to volume)
Small Moments, Big Magic (Tales from my every day)
Overheard (Quotes from friends and strangers)
I’m Crushing On (Things I love that you might like hearing about)
Library Haul (Some of what’s good on the shelf)
Bite Sized Bible Study (Wonders from the Deep)
Reflections (Inviting you into upliftment from the past month)
Love Letters (Thank yous and acknowledgements)
In Case You Missed It (A nod to my recent or past writing)
Magic Deconstructed
On our way to run an errand, DH and I stopped by the dealership to have our car horn looked at. It had a manufacturer’s defect and we ended up leaving in a loaner. Replacing the fuse (it turned out) would take at least a day.
As we pulled out onto the street in a sleek dark sedan with tinted windows, much lower to the ground than our SUV, I leaned back in the cool leather passenger seat as sirens blaring in the next lane caught my attention. The flashing lights of a police car raced past us in the opposite direction and immediately we were translated in my mind’s eye.
Suddenly we were Bonnie & Clyde, or some other rebellious lovers on the run from the ‘establishment’. We had ditched our own vehicle, in the nick of time, and become invisible to our pursuers as we escaped right under their noses. ‘Clyde’ and I would live to love another day…untouchable.
The intrigue of that ‘moment’ remained with me all the way to our destination. (Heck it was exciting enough just to be alone with my husband for a little while, without our three boisterous boys in tow.) I basked in the glow of a made-up adventure - an unanticipated gift to a heart yearning silently for something unidentifiable, something yet to be defined, something magical.
In the course of adulting we start to believe these moments are just for children: that there’s little room for such frivolity in a starched and serious world. Whimsy and fantasy, romance and adventure get traded for the mundane realities: schedules and responsibilities, diapers and dishes and bills and a malnourished spirit.
Under siege by realities that try to suppress our buoyancy, in the midst of our pain, dullness and disappointment, how do we invite these moments to overstep the boundaries of our lives, allow them to appreciate in value, to move and incite us and beautify us? How do we see through childlike eyes again?
It just takes a little intentionality. Using the letters of the word MAGIC, and lessons from the Word Himself, I will share five keys over the next few letters to becoming a person who finds joy in the little things, who leans into the lovely and excavates treasures even in trial.
Continued in March’s newsletter with M…
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious..."
Albert Einstein
“Let us see your miracles again, and let the rising generation see the glorious wonders you’re famous for.”
Psalms 90:16 TPT
“To be made for eternity and forced to dwell in time is for mankind a tragedy of huge proportions. All within us cries for life and permanence, and everything around us reminds us of mortality and change. Yet that God has made us of the stuff of eternity is both a glory and a prophecy yet to be fulfilled.”
A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy
I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or danceI hope you dance.
Sung by Lee Ann Womack; Songwriters: Tia Sillers / Mark Sanders
“I am sure there is Magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it and make it do things for us”
Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
The Magic of Simplicity
There’s something to be said for quiet simplicity, for the kind of classic elegance that needs no flamboyance to fill a room. Though this vase was flush with roses on Valentines Day, I can’t take my eyes off this arrangement of simple stalks and baby’s breath that has remained steadfast a week after the scarlet blooms bowed their heads. Darling, do you feel plain and simple in this moment? Do you feel like the excitement of life has bowed out and left you behind. See the beauty in this image and see yourself—significant, timeless, eye-catching yet still.
The Magic of Perspective
He squeezes about a dollar’s worth of Palmolive dishwashing liquid into the sink before I turn around and spy him. Orange concentrate winds its way in rivulets down the drain, fed by streams along the side of the bottle, carrying my grocery budget with it. But I can only half-heartedly chide him for I am taken by his gratified eyes. Those palm fringed suns never once regard my looming consternation, but instead are fixed upon one or other of a hundred tiny bubbles floating upward from the basin, iridescent and pleased to entertain him.
The Magic of Risk
She looked at me through the corner of her eyes the way shoppers inspect the sell by date on milk - one part apathy, two parts suspicion. After all, it’s not everyday some woman you don’t know rolls her window down and yells “Hey! How’re you doing?” while you’re walking your kids home after school. No, I didn’t mistake her for someone else. No, I did not actually know her. Yes her response (she did answer me) carried a subtle who the hell are you, crazy person? Yes, I felt very stupid and slightly embarrassed immediately afterward. But I felt the risk was worth it so I tried to shrug that off. Every day I’d see her making her way back home, two kids and a stroller, hardly ever a smile. Maybe my concern was misplaced, or maybe that was the first genuine check-in she’d had in a while. I’ll probably never know. Still worth it.
This commentary on human existence >
This no-longer common courtesy > How to Write the Perfect Card
This perfect productivity tip from @simplified. Their 30-day challenge might be fun to tackle in March.
Here’s my own tip:
Everyone has a lead magnet to their website nowadays, which means I end up on a lot of email lists; so I sign up for email correspondence with my initials instead of my full name. That way I instantly know if someone is writing to me personally or if it’s been automatically generated. If I don’t want to unsubscribe but also don’t want to feel pressured to open every email, seeing them say Hello there, TH! signals to my brain that it can wait till later.
Of course, my newsletter is top priority, so don’t get any ideas :)
This video prompt, nay reminder to love ourselves, by the beguiling Morgan Harper Nicholls > Turn Your Scribbles into Art, and a bonus reminder that she is we and we are she >
I almost didn’t share this because I all I could see was the paint in my nails and how, when filmed, it looked like dirt. But as I watched the video back, I was reminded that this is what this piece was about: going beyond perfection. Allowing the imperfect, the scribbles, the things that don’t look like much become something we can humbly and boldly choose to be proud of.
Morgan Harper Nicholls
[ Oh Morgs, we wouldn’t even have noticed your nails if you didn’t say something…but guys, is that not the kind of thing you might have obsessed about at some point? ]
This new Tostitos avo salsa that is everything (even without a bag of chips)! If you can’t find it at your grocery there are homemade versions online, but this one changed my life, my nachos and my tuna sandwiches forever. I wish I was being paid to say this but I love it so much, I don’t care that I’m not. You’re welcome.
This photo by my flower-loving friend, Karyn, the Joanna Gaines of my life :)
This moment I took for myself to brain dump January and brain pump for February, with a little Dickenson and nosh in between.
And this swimsuit that totally #punnedit. I saw it at Walmart but I’m sure something similar is available online if anyone gets a craving.
This incredible voice that will make you think about autism differently.
This podcast by Emily P. Freeman about doing The Next Right Thing that puts the choose in Tuesdays. Team anti-anxiety.
I love books that make me look up words and upwards.
Like One Long River of Song by Brian Doyle, a collection of essays by a phenomenal but lesser known author.
I love books that celebrate our value and point us to purpose.
Like Letters to the Nation by Corey Worrell, a labour of love soon to be available as an ebook.
Exodus 14:19-20
The parting of the Red Sea gets a lot of news coverage, but consider this miracle of the night before. While God sent an east wind to heap up the waters, His angel who was going before them, took up a rear guard; the pillar of cloud that went before them moved behind, between them and the Israelites so that neither camp came near the other all night long.
How is God showing evidence of His protection while you wait on your miracle to manifest? It may look like His covering is gone, or that cloud and darkness are surrounding you but just because you can’t see the miracle ahead it doesn’t mean it’s not working on your behalf. You can lie down and be at rest, even in the presence of your enemies.
Before you go, remember…
You have value . There is richness to your story . You have everything you need to do everything you need to do . You do not need permission from anyone but God . Don’t stay in your comfort zone . Do not overthink and get bogged down in the details . Step over fear . There is nothing about her (whoever she is) that is better than you. You know a helluva lot more than you give yourself credit for .
I am an expert at ____________! (<— insert one thing you’re pretty decent at or that someone could learn from you)!
Dear Early Adopters who RSVP’d as soon as I spilled the tea about this newsletter: Thank you from the bottom of my heart (for being my guinea pigs, ahem, readers. Your patience with my trial and error is so appreciated)!
Dear Jaci at thelightinthecracks.com and Shaq at becomingall.com: Thanks for cheerleading this newsletter from the background. It wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without your patient encouragement.
Dear Shavanaré: A piece of my art in bookmark form is on its way to thank you for being my very first subscriber! It should be arriving any day now.
Dear Julie: My 7th subscriber (it’s my favourite number). You also delivered God’s nod this time. Thanks for being such a care bear!
In celebration of our monthly delivery date, I will be gifting one last piece of art to my 22nd subscriber. Feel free to share this with a few friends you think may like to receive this newsletter, or to email me with honest, constructive feedback on this letter.
Catch up on my latest blog | Rewind to the post that inspired my logo.
Magic, like love, won’t bear to be forced.