Sunday Journal Prompt

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” 

– Arthur Ashe

Often my instinct is to postpone a task or goal until I have everything I think I need to do it “right”: wait to grade papers until I have a two-hour block of time to devote to the task, postpone work on my book until I'll have more time during summer break, not donate to a worthy cause until I can give as much as I’d like to, not be a part of a social-justice pursuit until I have the time and wherewithal to play a larger role.

Yet little bits add up over time. When we start where we are, use what resources we have and do what we can, the microcosm begins to build. What we do in a day or week sets us up for what we can accomplish in a month or a year. Conditions may not be perfect, but they may well be all that is needed.

What have you been putting off until conditions are “right”? How can you start where you are with what you have to do what you can?

Sunday Journal Prompt

"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." 

- Thomas Campbell

A death has recently brought together people who rarely see each other and who only occasionally communicate. The sudden loss of a childhood neighbor—the brother of my oldest friend—has prompted engagement with people from my hometown. Memories and stories fill text, Facebook and Messenger windows, the pain of our loss rippling and echoing across miles, time zones and oceans.

It’s hard to imagine a world without his beautiful soul, and it’s heartbreaking to think of how painful his loss must be for his family. This experience has shed light on how not just distance, but also time—30-40 years in this case—can seem to evaporate when we consider deep connections from our childhood.

What emotion has rippled across time and distance? With whom did it connect you?