It's Official, Heartlifter!
Our community has a new home.
“When she is unable to avoid the matter further, she makes a pot of tea.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
Welcome Home, Heartlifter!
I just poured myself a steaming cup of hot black tea, a gift from a dear friend. She brought it all the way back from The Empress Victoria Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. With only 10 two-cup organic tea bags in the box, I am sipping with extreme enjoyment and measured joy.
I’m feeling the words of Erin Morgenstern today, so I made my cup of tea.
You see, I’ve been scared.
Scared of moving our online community.
Scared of doing something new.
It feels risky for some odd reason.
But, I know in the deepest part of my being that this is the right move.
Why?
Two specific reasons:
I need to streamline, again. Way back in 2014 and 2015, streamline was my one-word for those years. I find myself there again. This time, with more gusto. Maybe it is because I am older or a brand new-ish grandmother of two (with one coming in December), or maybe I just want to be more effective and efficient than ever before. Maybe it is because Wisdom has set in and I am extremely clear on how I want to spend my time and energy in this third act of my life. Arthur C. Brooks, author of “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life,” explains the “two types of intelligence that people possess, but at greater abundance at different points of life”:
In 1971, British psychologist, Raymond Cattell, published a book entitled, Abilities: Their Structure, Growth, and Action. The first intelligence is fluid intelligence, which Cattell defined as the ability to reason, think flexibly, and solve novel problems. It is what we commonly think of as raw smarts, and researchers find that is associated with both reading and mathematical ablity. He observed that this intelligence was highest relatively early in adulthood and diminished rapidly starting in one’s thirties and forties.
Ok, I’m well beyond that type of intelligence. Thankfully, the second intelligence Cattell discovered was crystallized intelligence, which he defines as:
The ability to use a stock of knowledge learned in the past. Think of this as a vast library. Instead of regretting how slow the librarian is, marvel at the size of the book collection your librarian is wandering around in, and the fact that he knows where to find a book, even if it takes him awhile. Crystallized intelligence, relying as it does on a stock of knowledge, tends to increase with age through one’s forties, fifties, and sixties—and does not diminish until quite later in life, if at all.
I am “repurposing my professional life to rely more on crystallized intelligence”1 and seeking strategic ways to teach, guide, lead, and counsel.
Substack is one of those strategic ways:
It allows more privacy than our current home. At least, as private as the Internet can be. Social media has drained me to the bones and I’m desperately discerning the next right steps concerning my presence there. My presence on Instagram is front and center, so you can always meet me there.
It invites deeper conversations and more intimate details about life.
It prods me to write essays about bridging the gap between our faith and mental health journey. To dig deep and wide with more focused attention.
It affords Q&A’s where deeper issues of life can be tackled with some sense of confidentiality within the community. Yes, there will be guidelines. Yay!
Substack offers two options: a free subscription and a paid subscription.
My highest priority will be to provide content to paid subscribers with deeper connections via comments, a private weekly heartlift via our private podcast, and a private Instagram. I promise occasional posts for free subscribers, too.
Please know, that if you already receive my free weekly podcast newsletter, nothing changes there—at least for now.
So here’s to taking risks and doing things scared.
As I tell my clients, it is in that uncomfortable space that real growth happens.
As famed Michelangelo said in his late 80’s, Ancora imparo, “Yet, I’m still learning.”
Welcome home, Heartlifter. I’m so glad you are here.
Brooks, A. C. (2023). From strength to strength: Finding success, happiness and deep purpose in the second half of life. Green Tree.