Well it has been a while since I last posted and to be completely honest, it’s because I haven’t been as dedicated to the I AM project as I first committed to. So, as usual, I do the whole “out of sight, out of mind” thing. Obviously, that really accomplishes nothing but just in case you’re curious, I’m back on track. I might not post projects monthly but I will be working on things and post when they are finished. However, that’s a tiny caveat of this post, not it’s main purpose.
I’ve been really trying to embrace my…..well, let’s call it my quirkiness 
There are some aspects of my person that I have oftentimes been embarrassed by but the older I get, the more I realize they just add to my charm. One of these things is my all out love for all things Disney. I have been absolutely in love with Disney since I was a child and occasionally felt the need to apologize for this. But no longer! I admit it proudly. I LOVE Disney 
Interestingly enough, I find a lot of wisdom and inspiration in Disney stories and characters and I will be posting about them now more frequently. You probably noticed the picture of Pocahontas at the beginning of this post. Currently, she has been inspiring me to take risk and seek adventure. One of my favorite songs of all time is “Just Around the Riverbend” because the lyrics speak so much truth to me.
“To be safe, we lose our chance of ever knowing/ What’s around the riverbend?” I think so often, Christian or non-Christian, one of our goals in life is to minimize pain and increase happiness and pleasure. So we don’t pursue are dreams because we might fail. We don’t take a risk because it might cost us everything. We don’t live to the fullest because then we might have to feel to the fullest as well. But why is pain and failure so scary? Why are we willing to give up adventure and a life full of…well, life, just so we don’t have to experience the pain? Because here’s the problem with safety; it’s an illusion and a costly one at that. Comfort has tricked us and masqueraded as safety. It does not matter how much money you have or how big your house is or what kind of health insurance you have. You will experience pain. You will experience failure. That’s life. Perhaps by trading adventure for comfort, you will avoid certain experiences but you will also miss out on the experiences that make life worth living. For me, this Disney character, this song, inspire me to take the risk. I want to live an abundant life and if the cost of that is pain then I think it a cheap price. For I have He who is with the Brokenhearted. Taking risk and living fully means that I will know joy and peace and thrill and happiness fully and when I fall, I have a Daddy who will place the bandaid, kiss the booboo, and help me back up. I need not fear pain but rather fear the cage that I would be tempted to stay in so that I might avoid the pain.
“Should I take the smoothest course?/ Steady as the beating drum?/ Should I marry Cocomo?/ Is all my dreaming at an end?” In the movie, Pocahontas’ father is urging her to marry a man she does not love and to settle into the role that she is supposed to play but she is pushing back against it. Should we always take the smoothest course? So often, I have chosen to do the easy thing instead of the right thing. What is my Cocomo? What is your Cocomo? Where have you chosen “saftey” and comfort instead of adventure and life? Where have I been playing it safe instead of living fully? I don’t know if this speaks to you but I know it challenges the heck out of me because I so often tell myself that I will leave my cage tomorrow, when I’m feeling stronger. And then find myself staying because it’s what I know and that safety brings me comfort. I want to be so curious about the outside world that I step into it and believe that any pain or failure that comes with it, is worth it.
“Or do you still wait for me/ Dream giver?/ Just around the riverbend.” I guess what I’m saying is that I want to see what’s around the riverbend, as cheesy as that might sound. I would encourage you to do the same
