About G.
Good morning my loves - happy day 14 of our dry January journaling series! I'm so happy you're here.
Here is today's prompt:
"Who inspires you? What traits do you feel like you want that they have? Do you feel like you share any traits with this person?"
I will never forget the first time I read Glennon Doyle Wambach's work. I was in college at the time and I came across from a Facebook post shared by a friend from a page called Momastery. It was Glennon's blog at the time and the post was all about the mountain that she was willing to die on. That mountain was that she did not think being gay was a sin and at the time was a Christian writer - I was also a Christian and I think I was around 20 or 21 when I read it.
At this time in my life, virtually all of my friends were gay. Kind of a circumstantial happenstance that gave me some of the funnest years of my life and so many nights in gay bars.
Anyways, I digress.
When I found Glennon's words I was at a real crossroads in my life. I didn't think being gay was wrong or sinful and not only did I have a ton of gay people that I loved deeply in my life, there was a part of me even then that knew I was queer myself.
Her writing was like a breath of fresh air. Finally! A christian who supports gay people! I didn't know anything else about her but that and that was enough to get me to trust her.
Over the last decade since finding G, I have devoured her blogs - sometimes re-reading over and over again, I have pre-ordered all of her books, and if she was speaking near me - I bought a ticket and always tried to say hi and hug her after. I have gone through so many "phases" with authors but ever since finding Glennon, I feel like I've found my favorite recipe or book - I will of course have other people I look up to but she will always be the first one that really helped me find words for what I was experiencing.
I used to read Glennon's words and I was so jealous of her writing. I thought she must sit down at her computer every day and think "OK BE INSPIRING! THINK OF INSPIRING STORIES AND WRITE THEM!" and I was so jealous that my brain didn't work that way.
I finally realized that my brain didn't need to work that way because it works MY way. The reason I find Glennon to be so incredible is not because she's the most peppy and inspiring person I listen to but it is because she is the most honest. She tells the truth even when it's ugly and uncomfortable and lonely. She says the hard things and she says them to millions of people.
That is what I love about Glennon and that is what I have always loved about her. No matter the amount of anxiety she may experience about her decisions, she is so honest about the inner knowing she has that she must make those decisions. From leaving her marriage to falling in love and marrying Abby Wambach and then to co-parenting with her ex-husband and their 3 kids.
I don't need the people I look up to make perfect decisions and live an aesthetically pleasing life, I just want to know that I'm listening to people who tell the truth. Honesty about this life and all of its struggles is getting rarer and rarer. As more of us cling to the idea of looking perfect on social media, I think sometimes we sacrifice telling the truth in order to keep up the façade.
G inspires me to keep telling the truth, even when it's awkward. She inspires to walk away, even when it's painful. And she inspires me to do what's best for you, even if it means disappointing someone else.
Tell me about someone who inspires you - I'm so proud of y'all!