hello again / summer actually / why playlists?

a conversational piece on life these days:

hello! it's been months since i've shared anything on this space. there are multiple reasons that play into why i have been web-silent: growing cynical toward the concept of "blogging", growing uncertain about why i have believed _____ for so long, learning how to say goodbye and hello simultaneously, and the discomfort that comes along with all of it... anyway. i am, for the moment, back.

for anyone (anyone?) who keeps up with me here, a brief life update for you: i graduated from Clemson University in December and moved to Nashville in June. i intern at a co-working space called WELD, and sell donuts at Five Daughters Bakery. it all sounds well and great--and my jobs, they really are both wonderful-- but summer has been a bit of an unkind fire. i didn't have any fully-formed expectations about what this time might be like, but this surely wasn't a flame i foresaw.

a thief stole my new bicycle and death stole my dog before i got to say goodbye and friends have been preoccupied and houses to live in have been elusive. and all of these on their own, though difficult and sad, might be relatively manageable. clumped together, amongst other things, in a new city, i haven't really known how to handle it. i don't think i'm supposed to know. i'm not used to this.

before you think this is intended as a complaint or some sort of plea for pity, it isn't. just an honest summary of life lately. there are also good things! like weekly trips to the library, watching airplanes take off in the distance from the airpark, drinks on front porches with friends, iced coffee from eighth and roast (where i am writing this from / sorry @wallet).

not long after i moved, i made a playlist i was proud of. if you know me at all, you know i make playlists like it's my job. most days, i wish it were. i am good at ordering songs conceptually and knowing what to play during this moment or that one. really, i think life's more memorable if it's got a soundtrack that fits. only recently, i've discovered i have this deep recurrent need for control, and my perfectionistic and compulsive playlist-making is one habit i can attribute to that tendency. man. kind of a tough pill to swallow.

well, this playlist, entitled 'for summer days', was really great for awhile. it rang out from the basket on my bike in between trips to the park and the taco place down the street. it was there while i learned i loved to roll my windows down. and then my bike was gone and my friends were gone and i didn't really want to hear these songs alone. i'd intended for them to be shared, after all.

don't get me wrong, i still love those songs, but summer's soundtrack became as unpredictable as the season itself. most of the songs i remember are not the ones i put on that playlist. the songs of summer are beautiful in ways i didn't see coming. they are soft and sad, hopeful and fun, and most of the time, they were songs i didn't handpick. they worked their way into my ears all on their own, at the hands of friends, strangers, Jesus, occasional resurfaced memories.

the point is, i can't control everything. on my best days, i know that. but i will keep at the playlists and here's why: it feels good when what you need shows up without your choosing. it's a reminder we weren't meant to go it alone. we need each other! i want to pick your songs. so these playlists, while still a little bit for me, are mostly for you. they won't all be the thing you need at the exact moment you need it, but maybe, just maybe, one song will. and for me, that is enough.

spread what you believe matters; i'll try to do the same..

..starting now! here's a link to some songs that have been my close friends this summer. i didn't put them in any particular order. but i want you to have them if you want to listen. hitting 'shuffle' is both condoned and encouraged :)

- L

p.s. if you like reading words i write, new is coming. soon!

the blues / heart

Six years ago I began a quiet tradition. Six December 31's I've listened to 'The Blues'. It's an old Switchfoot song- you can look it up if you'd like. Its verses and choruses are comprised of a lengthy string of questions, which I think is why I keep returning to its comfort. 

I find myself at the begending (a word I probably invented to denote the clashing of old and new) again, weighed down with questions too. I fear today, the first of January, has become subject for the scoffers. 'Just another day full of empty promises to be better.' That's what the cynics might say, at least. Part of me says that too, but I stuff it down in rejection and instead try to make a big deal of expectant hope. We all want that, don't we?

I started choosing a word instead of a resolution three years ago, in a time and place I look back on with fondness. My friends do it too. Well, some of them. I like the purpose and the simplicity. I know I'll fall short of my word's intentions, but each year I'm propelled to press forward anyway.

For now I'll refrain from reflecting too much on 2016 because my mind's made a mess of it. What I do know is there were bright spots and good days amidst difficulty. It was thrilling curiosity and purposeful solitude, fervent prayer and looming confusion. It still is, partially.

Looking ahead, here's what I know: there are watchers and there are doers. I am the former and I, more than anything, do not want to be. 

So my word for 2017 is heart: courage; the vital part or essence. To me, it sends Hope, always welcomed and needed. To have heart, I think too, is to be a doer. Passion not acted on is maybe not passion at all, and I more than anything want passion.

Heart was sparked by a verse, an excerpt, and some songs (I might share later). It is more than half of "take heart", words resting in my favorite piece of scripture: 13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27)

And this Thoreau quote from my twelfth grade English class; it has been rattling around in my pocket since we had to memorize it: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately..I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life."

That's all it is, really. Purpose and passion in our days. Heart.

And everyone has one, a heart. Everyone. It's the Great Equalizer, reminding gently that we all want love. Love is a term sometimes tossed around carelessly, and it's this great abstract solvent to our problems according to most notable people. But love is not concrete and it's not graspable or formulaic. It's perplexing, but I want to be a part of it and to give it away, whatever that looks like. I think it starts with doing. And fighting for the worst parking spot (cc: Bob Goff). 

And so the song ends, 'is there any honest song to sing besides these blues?' I don't know, Jon. I keep hearing that 'everything is going to be alright', both said and sung. I trust it will be.

Here's to more heart. Welcome, 2017!

WWLT: January White & Silhouettes - Sleeping at Last //  27 - Passenger // Somebody to Anybody - Margaret Glaspy

WWLT: January White & Silhouettes - Sleeping at Last //  27 - Passenger // Somebody to Anybody - Margaret Glaspy

the foyer

This is TREES III, the final piece of the series! Before you begin, know these are not the words I expected to write. In my mind, I'd fast-tracked to a compelling tale about what college has been like for me: seven semesters and three summers. I worked on it for weeks, but I'm still so close, too close, to understand it all. Maybe that story will come later; for now, here's what I have, written today.

It's been three and a half years in a college town. To use a seemingly unlikely metaphor, Clemson's been a foyer. Fairly small yet good for beginnings, entertaining for a short while. Doors on all four walls, pathways to possibility. In my mind, the foyer's got a tree burgeoning in the center and the tree is me. 

The Foyer was grand for a small sprout, unexplored and thrilling. 'Til the end, it has been nurturing and kind. Inside, I've learned to stay soft, to be bold. I've learned the world is big and emotions are ok. I've learned what kind of company I like to keep, and that life is brimming with purpose. Each of them deserve their own essay, someday.

Ok, back to the Foyer. A time came when I thought I'd outgrown it. I no longer fit. My branches pressed against thick walls, twined 'round doorknobs. Leaves littered the hardwood. I wanted more than what was inside.

Not fitting was a half-truth in ways I'm not sure how to articulate yet. Growth was happening and growing pains are good. And there's something to be said for sticking around. Time kept its pace as doors opened and branches shot through, allowing for roaming and remaining to coexist. A God-breathed phenomenon, I'm sure. 

Now, at the risk of being cliche, it is time to uproot. Ring turned, I am ready. I've flourished I hope, Wisely & Slow

...and so the last leaf falls. I watch the descent with a wide grin, for the Foyer let a good thing grow.

WWLT: Wisely & Slow - The Staves // The Current State of Things - Noah Gundersen


Answers to FAQ (aka what's next for me):

I just finished college with a Communications degree. I'll be staying in Clemson through the spring, leading Young Life and working a part-time job of some sort, soaking up time with friends. Hopefully I'll have some opportunities to travel, but my biggest goals are to make/save money, and to learn to play drums.

I feel the closing of a chapter without its finality. I don't have to say goodbyes yet, but I've been introspective all the same, preparing for all the "lasts" in the coming months. Next, I hope to return to Nashville and find a job I love. Stay tuned!


L: 1/4/14, Christmas break freshman year. I spent a few days in/around Columbus, NC with five friends; it changed the trajectory of my life. While I don't see most of them on a regular basis, I'm always glad our paths crossed.

LC: 9/11/14, I've spent many days in this tree out at Chattooga Belle Farm. This day I took my friend Bailey to see the magic of the treehouse. Lots of memories w/ people I love are here; so is my illegible left-handed signature.

RC: 10/26/14, from Max Patch Mtn. Brianna, Abby and I spent a perfect autumn day there. When I think of it I hear Beyond the Blue by Josh Garrels. 

R: 1/22/16: Last year, it snowed late on a Friday night. It'd been a rough week; after some convincing, I joined my friends outside and marveled at the white winter trees, taking photos as we ran around campus.