ANCHORS || a blog about people

Most of "my people" have or are in the process of drifting out of my life, and those who aren't just happen to live hours away from me. People are moving away and moving on and one of the worst places to be in a season of transition is in the exact same place before and after everyone else is gone. 

I read a book and there was a boy who did not have very much stability in his life. The few things in his life that did happen to be stable he called "anchors". Every time I go through a chapter in my life that's horribly unstable and all over the place, I tend to turn to people and depend on them as my "anchors". And that's always worked out really well for me, until now. The people I thought would be there to protect and hold me up when I felt like I couldn't do it anymore aren't here. Some of them are in search of something to call an anchor, some of them have moved away, and some of them just aren't as "here" as they used to be. 

It's hard to depend on an anchor that's light enough to drift, and I guess that's what I've been discovering. 

"We're all on a journey," my dad has has repeatedly told me when I complain about or criticize those around me. And that's really true. None of us have it all figured out, and none of us are strong enough to anchor down another person. So maybe that's what life is about. Finding something heavy and real and substantial enough to save us from drifting aimlessly. I think we tend to turn to various things to "save" us - food, music, TV - but having a good group of friends or a boyfriend or just having A PERSON you know will be there for as long as you need them to be there is something that each and everyone of us craves. And that's not bad. But that person is going to let you down. He'll be too busy to talk. She'll move away. They'll forget sometimes and sometimes they'll remember but your mood and joy level shouldn't depend on them, okay? 

I know y'all are expecting me to preach at you about how God is always there, but I'm not going to. Whether or not He's there (He is) you're going to have to figure things out on your own. I just want to remind you that people are bad anchors because they'll float away and eventually we'll all be drifting along, unable to rescue each other. That's why we need to  discover something weighty and solid enough (God) to have in common and to carry us through this crazy whirlwind we call life. 

Love Christie

(PS community is good as long as you have more in common than liking and depending on each other)

Here's To GROWING UP

Being nineteen years old is a weird experience that I have not enjoyed. Until recently, I'd been striving to be as "teenage" as possible, living in denial of the fact that my 20th birthday will be here before I know it. Then I saw this X-factor audition and it was these girls who were 20-23 years old talking about how they were just "a group of teenagers singing about life" and I was embarrassed for them and for me and for 20-somethings in general because your 20's should not be a contest of who can stay the most high-school for the longest. Then I read an article about how our culture has given young people endless opportunities to "postpone" growing up and just recently I have realized how true that is. Avril Lavigne's new hit "Here's to Never Growing Up" is embarassing because it's everybody's jam (don't deny it) and it's talking about being almost thirty years old, running down the street yelling kiss my ass, like yeah, whatever, we're still living like that. 

Like...can we not? 

Growing up is one of those things that just happens and as sad and nostalgic as it makes me feel, we're all just going to have to deal with it. I don't want to be 25 or 30 years old, calling myself a teenager and desperately telling people that "yeah, whatever, I'm still living like that" because THAT'S PATHETIC and the fact that I see real life people living that life makes me very sympathetic toward humankind in general. 

So, I am setting off on a self-reflective journey that involves turning my growing up experience into a fun, beautiful, and worthwhile adventure. It's been eventful so far, but rewarding. Going through a liberating break-up, learning how to budget my money, actually doing my homework, appreciating my job, evaluating my emotional, physical, and spiritual health have been several of the things that have launched me into this season of not-putting-off-growing-up. I'm excited and scared and ready to make the most of my future instead of procrastinating on experiencing it. 

All that to say, if you ever see me around town yelling "here's to never growing up" just tell me to stop and I'll do the same for you. 


Love, 
Christie