“Joy does not simply happen to us.
We have to choose joy and keep choosing it everyday.”
~ Henri Nouwen
{a quiet find in the fog one morning}

Eric and I were driving to Carmel for a weekend anniversary getaway last month.

It was a welcome reprieve after three months of releasing my new book, Finding Spiritual Whitespace.  I had completed more than 20 interviews and even more articles to get the word out about the book.

I had journeyed through an unexpected two years of debilitating anxiety from reliving painful memories from childhood trauma, as a result of writing the manuscript. So giving birth to this book is something I’m deeply grateful for.

But, after surrounding myself with a lot “spiritual whitespace” — rest and rejuvenation — to heal and write this book, I found the sudden re-entry into the blogosphere noisy and anxiety generating.

I reached a crossroad that perhaps you may be standing in.

Should I keep pushing myself to produce and perform — fearful of what the consequences might be if I stopped to slow?

Or should I listen to the quiet Voice of Love — God’s voice — to make room to feed my soul and cultivate my experience of God in my everyday life rather than what I could produce for Him?

Is there a decision you’re facing that makes you fearful of how relevant you would become — if you put the care of your soul in priority?

For me, the journey to become the beloved, rather than a brand, is where God is speaking to my heart.

Online life can be enriching and imaginative, connecting us with others on the same faith journey or struggle with similar challenges — when we can be honest about our journey.  Through blogging, I have found kindred spirits who gave me courage to find my voice through the dark times.

But, online life also gets complicated because of social networking and social media.

Social networking. It’s a collection of people vying for attention, for their products, platform and messages.

Social media. It’s the tools used to market and garner influence.

Brand influence is a commodity that is produced by working hard to cultivate an identity and audience.

But you and I are not products.

Real Influence

Spiritual influence — the way Jesus cultivated it — is a quality of the soul that enables us to feel intimacy with God and vulnerability with others.

True influence cannot be measured but experienced in our everyday lives — by the strangers we meet, our friends, spouses, children, teachers, co-workers, and even our own selves with Jesus — in the daily grind.

Real influence is a quality of the soul that enables others to feel at home with us  — more loved, comforted, accepted and known — because we feel at home with God. As is. 

Those moments are often quiet and small.

Soul Loneliness

At the soul of who God made us — where Psalmist David calls “the innermost being” — God first touched  dirt and fashioned in us the capacity to create and dream, to need Him and each other.

He created a soul in each of us.

The soul does not survive on successes and the soul cannot be fed with productivity or achievement.

The soul becomes lonely.

The Atlantic published a powerful article sharing new research that suggests we have never been lonelier because of social media, even though we are more densely networked than ever. All this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill.

“…within this world of instant and absolute communication, unbounded by limits of time or space, we suffer from…

To be continued…

To Read The Rest Of the Story

…To read the rest of the story “You Are Not a Brand. You Are Beloved.” – click here to join me over at DaySpring’s (in)courage site, where today’s post is published.

Take a virtual coffee break together. I’d love to be with you there.