The Morgan Harper Nichols Show

Sometimes we make decisions thinking we're making the safe choice. We choose paths because they seem reliable and steady. We long for stability. We long to have things in order so that we can experience peace. However, even in the best case scenarios, questions inevitably find us. Even if things are going well, we wonder, am I playing it too safe? Am I not being challenged enough? In this space, we must remember to be open and honest about what we are feeling. We must seek out places where we feel safe and free to express our doubts and fears. We don't have to feel guilty for wanting something different. It's okay to acknowledge that we feel burnt out even if we love the job. It's okay to admit that we feel distant even in a loving relationship. And here's why it's okay: Number one, feelings don't last forever. Number two, you're allowed to feel more than one thing at once. Number three, ignoring the feelings won't make them go away. Instead, they just go into the underbelly and show up in other places. Feelings are messy, and oftentimes inconvenient. This is why it makes sense that for many of us, we would rather set them aside or in some situations, avoid them altogether. But when we do choose to do the courageous work of honesty, even when it comes to our emotions, we open ourselves up to grow. Growth can feel uncomfortable, growth can feel awkward. However, growth also allows us to outgrow the restraints we've put on ourselves because of fear. Whether it's a fear of being vulnerable, appearing weak, experiencing pain or being unlovable, there is a life to be lived on the other side of that fear. A life filled with freedom - freedom to speak up, freedom to open up, freedom to be authentic without dwelling on what others might think. Addressing your hidden feelings is hard work. But when you do this, you create opportunities for a deeper, more meaningful connection. Now is the time to say goodbye to hiding parts of yourself because you fear how you will be perceived. Yes, there'll be people who are not ready for the real you. But there will also be people who are inspired by your realness. It's possible that you could share your true feelings and you hang up the phone feeling embarrassed for being vulnerable. But what if the opposite happened? What if you hung up the phone feeling relieved and at peace, knowing that it mattered that you were honest? It takes great strength to say what you need to say. But to be honest, is to be brave. Journal: Have you been straightforward lately? Why or why not? How to support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp My shop: http://garden24.co --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

One day, you will look back on this season of your life and all of the things you made it through. You will look back with gratitude, because you will realize you were stronger than you thought you were. Even though in the moment you thought you were moving at too slow of a pace, you will find that all by grace, you were able to carry on anyway. Your story was still being written, and the valleys did not keep you from the rest of the journey that awaited you. So on those days where you feel like your progress is slow, and you feel like you are stuck where you were a year ago, slow down and count the long nights that led you here. Count the difficult conversations you worked through. Count the little things that no longer bother you. This is progress, strength. This is how you overcame. Even when there are still tears in your eyes. Even when you still have a heavy mind. The hurt you experienced that was out of your control does not have the power to keep you from being whole. Trust that you are still worthy of love. Trust: love is still greater than a fear. Working through the pain of past hurt is anything but easy. But day by day, you start to notice how the clouds are still moving, the wind is still blowing around you, the seasons are still changing. Even when the autumn leaves fall off the trees and you are forced to face the winter, you can also start to notice a little more sunlight pouring through the branches now. People change, seasons change, and your perspective changes too. You start to see where the light gets in. You start to see how to make it through. Journal: What in your life is giving you a sense of purpose? How to support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp My shop: http://garden24.co How to connect on social media: Instagram Instagram.com/morganharpernichols Twitter: twitter.com/morganhnichols Pinterest: pinterest.com/morganharpernichols YouTube: youtube.com/morganharpernichols TikTok: tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols Facebook: facebook.com/morganharpernichols --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

Here's to the quietly strong. Here's to the one who has been working through things that you don't even have words for. Even here, you are worthy of long, slow, deep breaths, even while you are currently working through all of this. Here's to the one who is realizing that sometimes singing is a sign of strength. Sometimes letting go is a sign of strength. And your strength does not have to look like anyone else's in order for you to be strong. Sometimes strength comes with a power pose, but maybe many other times, it's just the exhale you take at the end of a memory of  something your grandmother used to say. It's realizing that even through all of the anxiousness, here you are working through it anyway. Sometimes strength is tears streaming down your face as you breathe out the words “it is well”. Strength is knowing that you're not weak if strength looks different, day by day, hour by hour, even. Let this be the season of your life where you learn to embrace the wholeness of what strength looks like. Let this be the time of your life where you chose to think nothing less of the slower days, or you chose to think nothing less of the evenings where you just needed a moment to sit and process things. Let this be a time of your life where you don't think any less of yourself when you feel weak. May you travel through these next few weeks remembering that even when you have perfected that smile that makes it seem like everything is okay now, you were never meant to carry all of this on your own. Slow down. Breathe deep. Remember, feeling does not make you weak. There is a lot going on right now. And this is also true: it’s not all up to you to sort through all of this right now. Breathe through this, sing through this. Invite all of your available senses to this. Let the splash of the dishwater and the laughter from the other room and the cars passing on the street behind you all remind you that you live in a world where a lot of other people are doing what they can to be strong right now. Love, listen, be patient. Loosen your shoulders at the sight of the sunset. No matter the tension or stress. These are examples of strength. Journal: When is gentleness, strength? How to support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp My shop: http://garden24.co How to connect on social media: Instagram Instagram.com/morganharpernichols Twitter: twitter.com/morganhnichols Pinterest: pinterest.com/morganharpernichols YouTube: youtube.com/morganharpernichols TikTok: tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols Facebook: facebook.com/morganharpernichols --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

You can only place  so many lamps in a room so the shadows can't gather. Eventually they find their way to the walls and the floors. And at night, they spill out over everything. And this is also true: we are free to keep living amidst their presence. We may not be able to pick them up in our hands and toss them out the window. but we can still paint the walls blue, green, yellow. We can make room for plants. We can still sit there nearby and read our books. The night will come and it will get harder to see, but mourning does come after. We find that we are not held back by their longness or silence. I am learning to hold on to this truth for the lingering shadows of the unknown. I do not know where tomorrow will lead, but I do know that when I take time for reflecting, looking for the good and noticing beauty, I am making room to let love in. This is a small, yet real example of hope. Sometimes amidst the shadows, I have not let go. I have managed to find something meaningful in the uncertainty. This matters in times like this, when you and I are faced with the reality of what does not make sense, and we are forced to sit in wait more than ever before. The longer we are in the stillness, the more the shadows will seem to spill into the light. And just like that, shades of hopelessness start to ease their way into everything. I cannot tell you that the shadows won't cloud your mind, or you won't get a little weary from time to time. But I can tell you: there is still plenty of room for light to fill the room. Take heart, breathe deep. The unknowns in the season might be greater than you have ever thought they would be. But even the fact that you are taking time to listen to this very line shows that through it all. You are still enduring to find a sense of peace in your heavy mind. Exhale after exhale is still leaving your body. You are still living, miraculously learning to dance in the shadows. Journal: Have you ever tried to make sense of the shadows? Support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp My shop: http://garden24.co Social Media: Instagram Instagram.com/morganharpernichols Twitter: twitter.com/morganhnichols Pinterest: pinterest.com/morganharpernichols YouTube: youtube.com/morganharpernichols TikTok: tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols Facebook: facebook.com/morganharpernichols --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

When your thoughts have torn at the lining of your strength, take heart, be still. There is grace for this. No matter how things go from here, you are not the sum of what happened. You have grown. You have changed. You are still headed in the direction of where you are meant to be. You are stronger. You are wiser. Even when it is hard to believe, allow yourself to show up; allow yourself to breathe. In all of the chaos and imperfection, allow yourself to just be in this moment, for no matter what happens from here, you have already made it further than you thought you would. Step into the clearing. Draw near to the grace. No matter how tomorrow goes, you will never be the same. One of the hardest things about fears is that they have this way of telling you things that are not true. They have this way of stretching and convincing you that no matter how much you have grown - no matter how much things have changed - the shadows that have followed you will have the final say. But the thing is, there has always been more to the story. You may have had to push through difficult things, but not once did those things define you. Even when they have left you with wounds that you were not sure would ever heal - even then they did not define you. Even then, those wounds are not the sum of who you are. You are so much more than what you have experienced. Even when you have been walking through the forest for who knows how long and you feel everything but brave, courageous, or strong. The fact that you are still breathing points to the beautiful grace-filled truth that all along: as long as you are here, there is more to you. There is wisdom to be gathered right here. There are stories of your life that are beginning to take shape, and your heart is being prepared to tell them. And even though this does not change the past, it does mean that through everything, somehow, hope did last. And light is pushing through the hallways of your heart like a river. No amount of shadows can hinder where light can go. So keep going. Even with a little strength you have: trust that even though all you're seeing is an endless canopy of trees overhead, that does not mean this is all there is. There's a clearing in the distance and you are on the journey there. You may be a wanderer, but you are not lost. You are on a journey somewhere. You are headed to a place where you will be able to see that even though you feel you have grown too weak, all by grace, there was more to your story. And even if inhaling and exhaling is the only sign of strength you see today, may you never think any less of it. Allow yourself to deepen in gratitude as you remember what a miracle it is to be breathing at all. This is no small thing and there is grace for every breath. Even here in the wild of a seemingly endless forest, there is grace for this. There is grace for this. Journal: Where are you finding grace today? Social Media: Instagram Instagram.com/morganharpernichols Twitter: twitter.com/morganhnichols Pinterest: pinterest.com/morganharpernichols YouTube: youtube.com/morganharpernichols TikTok: tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols Facebook: facebook.com/morganharpernichols --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

Just in case no one has told you lately: it is okay if you do not have it all figured out. It is okay if you are still learning how to breathe, while making it through the desert of things. I'm not sure what things you have been told lately, or what pressure you have been made to feel. But above all of that, there is room for you to still find rest in knowing: it is okay if you are not where you thought you would be right now. It is okay if you're still figuring things out when everyone else already seems to have their plans in place. The reason why this is okay is because no matter how far productivity takes you, it does not automatically equal joy and fulfillment in life. There's nothing wrong with getting things done, but may it never become the way to measure growth in your life. Instead, take a look at your inner life. Take a look at the ways you have grown in patience. Notice the ways you have learned to be gentle and extend grace, even when it seemed impossible. Remember the time you did something kind and didn't take the credit. Remember the season where you made a conscious decision to begin the journey of letting something go. No matter what things you don't have figured out, it's those inner things that make all of the difference, no matter what lies ahead. When the days turn into weeks, and the weeks turn into years, and you're wondering how long you have to wait and make the most of life right here - know that even then, light pours through and shines in unexpected places. And after all this time, it is still worth delighting in. For light will show you even in the most shadowy, ordinary rooms, there is still space to heal. Light reveals, even in the waiting. So let your heart be filled with joy at the possibility of what could be. And not just big, far off distant things. But the small and seemingly insignificant - a flicker of hope in the stillness, that even here you are free to come alive. Right here and me in between you are still becoming who you were meant to be. And it is okay to not have it all figured out and still be growing in wisdom and in grace at the same exact time. Journal: What seemingly ordinary thing are you grateful for today? Support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp My shop: http://garden24.co Social Media: Instagram Instagram.com/morganharpernichols Twitter: twitter.com/morganhnichols Pinterest: pinterest.com/morganharpernichols YouTube: youtube.com/morganharpernichols TikTok: tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols Facebook: facebook.com/morganharpernichols --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

Perhaps one of the reasons why forgiveness is so hard is because forgiveness often requires us to let go before we are ready. Forgiveness causes us to accept this reality that sometimes we have to leave behind our desire to know why they said those words, and why they acted in that way, and why these feelings still linger today. But one thing we don't leave behind is abundant, grace filled room to heal anyway. The past will not change, and we can heal anyway. Some doors are permanently closed, and we can heal anyway. Learning to breathe in the hallway, even before our mourning turns into dancing. This is forgiveness as a practice. This is what forgiveness feels like - when we realize that it is okay if those feelings of anger, resentment, bitterness, and hurt don't go away all at once. Moving on doesn't happen all at once. This work takes time, investment, and courage to stay present. Because right here, on the other side of what happened, is this present moment. And in this present moment, we are free to practice forgiveness -  practice letting it go. For in this space, this remains true: we don't leave peace behind us. Peace, which is room to breathe, is a gloriously divine continuum that keeps finding us over and over again, steadying our souls, reminding us that no matter what we fear, we can still practice letting go, right here. Right here there is room for our heavy hearts to see. Even when we do not get the answers we were longing for the peace we are seeking is still rising slowly and steadily all around us. For the hurt that we feel might linger a little longer than we want it to. And it might find us in the middle of the afternoon when the smallest sliver of a memory takes us back. But in that moment, we also find we are free to exhale. At last, we are free to exhale. There might be a grudge, there might be a memory that won't seem to fade, and at the same exact time: there is also today to realize that forgiveness does not make you weak. Forgiveness does not mean you accept or approve everything. Forgiveness is a practice of letting go, being free, realizing that the past does not have a permanent hold on who you are right now. Journal: Have you ever done something that others might perceive as weak, but it was actually strong? Support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp My shop: http://garden24.co Social Media: Instagram Instagram.com/morganharpernichols Twitter: twitter.com/morganhnichols Pinterest: pinterest.com/morganharpernichols YouTube: youtube.com/morganharpernichols TikTok: tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols Facebook: facebook.com/morganharpernichols --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

Whenever we start to feel like we can't be stronger, any longer, may we remember the generations coming after us. May we remember that when we find the strength to cultivate courage, that courage is contagious. That courage has ripple effects in the lives of those around us. Courage is gritty, and oftentimes imperfect. Courage is the action we know that we must take, even if we have to do it a little afraid. Courage is saying what we need to say with humility and grace. Courage is the willingness to accept that you might get it wrong sometimes, and you might need to be corrected. But even then, you can say thank you. You can see this as an opportunity to learn and grow. May this be the season you say goodbye to holding back. May this be the time of your life you always remember - the time where you chose to accept that even though you were going to face obstacles lined with fear, you are going to choose to keep going anyway. You are going to keep reminding yourself at any given moment, someone is watching. And they're not watching to see you get it all right. They're watching for an example of courage, an example of someone who is willing to keep going, amidst everything they're going through. And you don't have to prove yourself to this person, but you do have an opportunity every day to let your courage have a ripple effect in the lives of those around you. You do have an opportunity to do what you know you need to do for your soul - even if you have to do it afraid. So May your courage be contagious. May you show up with all you have, knowing that from the very beginning, you're not going to get it all right and that's alright. You're still going to become who you are meant to be; you're still going to live to tell a story of how you continued to rise above, even when you didn't feel brave enough or smart enough or worthy enough. All by grace, you continue to stay the course. You continue to take action where you need to take action and practice stillness where you need to practice stillness. You kept breathing deep in the wild of your fears. You kept acting on courage, trusting that there is a reason you are here. Journal: How will you act on courage today? Support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp My shop: http://garden24.co Social Media: Instagram Instagram.com/morganharpernichols Twitter: twitter.com/morganhnichols Pinterest: pinterest.com/morganharpernichols YouTube: youtube.com/morganharpernichols TikTok: tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols Facebook: facebook.com/morganharpernichols --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

Support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp My shop: http://garden24.co Social Media: Instagram Instagram.com/morganharpernichols Twitter: twitter.com/morganhnichols Pinterest: pinterest.com/morganharpernichols YouTube: youtube.com/morganharpernichols TikTok: tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols Facebook: facebook.com/morganharpernichols --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

Mentioned in this episode: Inner Landscape of Beauty (On Being Podcast Episode)  Support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my daily app: http://onelink.to/stapp My shop: http://garden24.co Social Media: Instagram Instagram.com/morganharpernichols Twitter: twitter.com/morganhnichols Pinterest: pinterest.com/morganharpernichols YouTube: youtube.com/morganharpernichols Facebook: facebook.com/morganharpernichols --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

Mentioned in the episode: Needs Inventory: https://www.cnvc.org/training/resource/needs-inventory Feelings Inventory: https://www.cnvc.org/training/resource/feelings-inventory Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon (book): https://bookshop.org/books/steal-like-an-artist-10-things-nobody-told-you-about-being-creative/9780761169253?aid=9296 Leave me a voice message! (click "+Message"): https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message Send me an email with “podcast” in the subject line: morgan@morganharpernichols.com Support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my daily app: http://onelink.to/stapp My shop: http://garden24.co Social Media: Instagram Instagram.com/morganharpernichols Twitter: twitter.com/morganhnichols Pinterest: pinterest.com/morganharpernichols YouTube: youtube.com/morganharpernichols Facebook: facebook.com/morganharpernichols --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

A link to the poem I read in this episode: https://www.instagram.com/p/CDWrswdAu4M/ Other References:  The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde, 'Stations' page 358 Every Moment Holy by Douglas Mckelvey, page 215 Support the show: Download my 'Storyteller' app, available for Apple and Android  Art prints, stickers, books and more in my online shop Garden24 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

I talked to Nadia Rodriguez (https://www.instagram.com/lovenaadiaa/) earlier this year about our stories, creativity, and inspiration. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

A poem and Art by Morgan Harper Nichols, inspired by a conversation with Taylor Tippett: instagram.com/taylortippett, https://www.atravelinlady.com/ Download the art and read the full poem here: HTTP://morganharpernichols.com/blog --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

Poems by Morgan Harper Nichols One Breath At A Time (Song) - YouTube --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message