It's like a tiny thread to everything, and everyone, is anchored in my chest. Every tantrum a vibration, every laugh a burst of song. It's like waking up to thunder. Like the static in the air before the lightning hits.

It’s like being a radio, receiving every station all at once, and having to learn the arduous skill of tuning in to one frequency at a time. It’s like pain is a pebble, or a boulder, or sometimes a mountain, and the universe is the sea. When the ripple waves hit, I know something of the their source—quality, magnitude, direction. It’s like my chest is

This is the Spider House. I know it as a coffee shop, but for others I know it's more a music venue, or a restaurant, or a bar, or a place to study, or our version of Cheers. Just another eclectic Austin landmark laying claim to my city's love of all things weird. And I love it too.

A few weeks ago, I was at the Spider House sipping an iced chai as I sat across from a fellow author who lives here in Austin. We met to talk about the writing craft. About three years ago, my friend quit his lucrative job in his promising career because way deep down in the core of his soul

My faith community, Gateway Church in Austin, held our annual Advance Weekend a few days ago. It was a blow out success. Over 400 of our volunteer leaders from across the city gathered to celebrate what God has done in and through our work together over the past year, and to dream and strategize the year ahead. As the Event Coordinator for the weekend, my job is largely to help the key players connect with each other, pray and plan, and then to get our of their way and let them do what they do best. We have an amazing team of artists, technicians, speakers, pray-ers and

What if you could simply feel what you are feeling…without apology or shame or fear that it would ruin you? What if you actually let yourself know your deep desire, and knew that desiring it was not a thing to be feared? What if you remembered what joy is like, and dropped every story you were living that did not allow for it to be? What if you stopped trying to be somebody, and simply were yourself? What if real success actually had absolutely nothing to do with looking fabulous or being strong or sounding like you know what's going on?

What if you really did cease