10 things this season has taught me

There hasn’t been many moments I haven’t had my journal with me this past year living in Florida. (I moved from Charlotte, NC last August.) I decided to share 10 things I have learned while learning. This season has had it’s ups and many downs, but I have learned so much and I’m thankful. So with that, here’s 10 things this season of life has taught me:

     1. Sometimes the strongest & bravest thing you can do for yourself is to know that it simply is not time yet. Keep not settling.

It’s hard sometimes living in a world where instant gratification is what we’re told to strive for. It’s all about what we want and how fast we can get it. And we suck at patience when we try on our own. It’s not something we can go to target and check isle 5 for. We have to learn. Even when something looks so good (whether it be a car, a job, a person, etc.) sometimes we’re supposed to say no to it, and there’s bravery and strength that comes from knowing what’s best for you. Keep not settling.

     2. You don’t have to change others in order to love them.

I used to get so mad at people for their faults. In a lot of my personal relationships, I didn’t quite get why controlling them and trying to get them to stop doing things wasn’t working. Then I realized, you can’t change people on your own and through your own good deeds. The only way you can change others is by simply loving them exactly how they are. And sometimes, like I realized, the only person who actually needs to change is you.

3. Abandonment is not embedded into the deepest parts of your skin. It can be fought, it can be defeated.

A lot of my story so far has been the people who love and care for me the most, leaving. Whether it was for serious reasons or just because they can, it hurt and wounded me for the longest time. I spent a lot of my growing seasons thinking something was wrong with me and spent so much time wondering why people would just leave. But you know what I realized? People are people. We all have our own issues and struggles and just because people aren’t here that are supposed to be, does not mean I have to live my life in a pit of depression. No matter who walks out of your life, know that you are greater than the hurtful feelings and questions they leave you with.

4. People’s stories matter. Your own included.

It’s as simple as that.

     5. Your parents teach you things growing up, like how to turn off the lights when you’re not using them. Do it.  

It will save you a lot of time and money on your electric bill, trust me.

   6. You don’t need any other human being’s approval or validation to follow your dreams.

Growing up, my parents can attest to this one, I can’t tell you how many different goals and plans I had. I was such a talker and always said I was going to do things and pursue things and for the longest time, I never did. Then I realized I was living for everyone else but myself. Don’t do that. Figure out (with time) what you want to do and who you want to be. Don’t let anyone stand in the way of making it happen.

7. Words are so vital; use them to build up, not tear down.

Every day you can use your words to build others up in love, joy, faith, and life. Use them. Even when it’s awkward and when you’d rather not.

 8. Security is not found in another human being.

And it never will be. That’s not their job.

9. Learn to be faithful in the small things.

I dropped out of college & moved 10 hours away from home with no job when I was 18, but every single thing has fallen into place. Don’t worry so much about being exactly where you are supposed to be. Sometimes we’re not supposed to have all the right answers. We’re just called to be the right person and be faithful in the small details and things fall into place as life continues to be life. Do what you can with where you are.

     10. Choosing joy is always the right choice.  

Even when your heart hurts a lot and life won’t stop, the moments that I chose joy when I would rather be really sad, has filled me with great perseverance. And I’m learning. I’m not perfect yet, I’m still fighting for myself but joy always wins in the end.

a good read

some of my all time favorite books I have read over the past few months, you should read them too (if you love books as much as I do) :: I currently am reading: The Catcher in the Rye. Fall & winter are some of my favorite times to get cozy and read!

loving people.

“You can always reach far enough out of your day-to-day routine, into the life of another, and become a part of their story. it’s wild.” my friend Keaton tweeted this yesterday and it really challenged me/ encouraged me to love people better and to love strangers with even more of my heart. And we won’t even realize it, but loving others bravely and stronger helps us love ourselves better too. So do something kind today, even something little. People’s stories matter and we should all take a little more time hear them and become a part.

childlike faith.

  my most recent adventure with the little I nanny for; Mina. her heart to adventure and explore even in the little moments constantly encourages and inspires me. never lose sight of childlike faith friends. it’s so vital to look past the heavy moments of life.

growing in the in stillness

Today I adventured on my bike to a coffee bar I so surprisingly stumbled upon. It sits right upon the water surrounded by boats, a few art galleries, and encouraging vibes. I read my magazine filled with images of adventures and dreams. I connect with the barista (her name is Rose). She’s an artist and her gallery is right around the corner. When she was 18 she traveled around the world hitch hiking and indulging in the many cultures and places. She has a star tattooed on her right arm and she really makes me think and pushes me to be vulnerable with the work I create.

Today I want to be like Rose. See, Rose followed her heart and opened her own art gallery, where she encourages people to come and create and see her work too. Rose feels the same way I do living here: dry and uninspired. But she creates anyways. See, South Florida is a place where people come to vacation. To drink, to indulge in the worldly things. Like partying, blowing money on fancy restaurants, hanging out at the beach all day. But no one comes here for the art culture. For the dreamers, the do-ers, or to even get a really good cup of joe (because you aren’t going to find it). It’s been really hard for me to create recently. To make good friendships and connections. Because what I’ve found is that people just aren’t as passionate here. They’re not passionate about the things that actually matter the most. Like creating, faith and growing in love. It’s all about instant gratification and what you can do to be more like the world and succeed on the worldly scale. But Rose isn’t like that. I’m not like that. Rose is 35, still not married and pushing past the feelings and emotions to sit still and do nothing. She doesn’t let the negative side of her environment change the way she creates. She only lets it stimulate her to push and work harder to create things that feel and reflect how she feels. She’s traveled the world, lived in Cali, Hawaii, Oregon and ended up in sunny Florida in a small beach town that doesn’t even know what latte art is. But she loves. She lives. She creates.

I am realizing I don’t need to be in a place to be fully inspired and no coated to create. Not being inspired can actually inspire me to use those feelings to create and make.

Beauty can come out of stillness.

Growth can come out of a season of what looks like nothing growing.

Even though we might not see the fruit or the tree, the seed is still there. It will grow and blossom. It just needs a little, beautiful thing called time.

So I’ve decided as an artist and writer, to push past the moments I feel uninspired, and to create anyways.

Picking up my pen and writing even when it feels like nothing flows. Drawing when I have no vision. Taking pictures when I see nothing that needs to be remembered.

The art of growing when I’d rather be quiet and wait for the next big thing is going to create a master piece of it’s own.

So I realized we don’t need chaos and a big scenario to create something beautiful or worthwhile. Use what you have with where you are. Even if it is in an area of being still and feeling like there is no growth to be found.

Go out on a limb and trust yourself to create. Even when it seems like nothing can come about.

dreams are more than drool in your pillow.

I used to believe that chasing my dreams was something I did when I fell asleep at night. Now I know that all it takes is initiative, drive, and a passionate heart to follow the ways of your heart.  

Life lesson 4 from Taylor Tippett.

Have you ever made some big plans in your life? Have you ever dreamed of doing something or said you were going to do it, well, because you really wanted to do it?

My parents can attest to this all to well.  (thanks for putting up with me guys if you are reading this) But growing up I couldn’t tell you how many times I told them I was going to do something or be someone. Spoiler alert (it never actually happened.)

Yes I had my childhood stages saying I was going to be a teacher, an astronaut, a cheerleader, a doctor, a flight attendant (ain’t that funny) but never really had the drive and ambition to pursue such things. It was like I was living in some kind of fantasy land and just said I needed and wanted to be these things because well, that’s exactly what society told me I had to do to be successful. 

Friends, family, strangers, let me just tell you something.

YOU DO NOT NEED A COLLEGE DEGREE TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS LIFE!!

 For example my father. That man is the most hardworking, driven individual I’ve ever seen. He started working at the lowest level in a car dealership and is now the service manager at Honda.

Now don’t get me wrong, if you desire to be a doctor or a lawyer or something that you actually need a degree for, then by all means, go to school. Because you need it.

But I just wanted to share my heart a little about what I learned about following the ways of your heart and pursuing your dreams.

A year ago I moved to good ole sunny Stuart, Florida. Really to just start fresh. I had no reason to be here. I had no friends really, just some family. I had no job. I just got up and left. Because I knew I needed it to grow into the person I wanted to be.

Many people told me no. Many people didn’t understand. I was worried I would fall flat on my  face and not succeed. I was scared for forcefully putting my self into a season of vulnerability (having to meet new people, job search, find a new place to call home.)

But you see that’s the thing about dreams and following your heart; it’s an adventure. Adventures don’t come with life road maps or tell you what do to or which way to go, you just go. You find the adventure (the people, the places, the memories) and you call them your own. You fall on your face, but you get back up and you head in the right direction.

To end this story I can tell you a few months ago during a season of trial and constant discouragement, I pushed past the feelings and decided to sit down with my journal and pen and started jotting down all my passions, hopes, and dreams. Even the silly ones from Kindergarten.

• loving people
• pizza
• writing
• Justin Bieber
• traveling
• meeting people
• coffee

And I decided I was going to be a flight attendant. I could travel the world, meet all my favorite people, see everywhere I dreamed of in my geography books and use it to further the Kingdom by being able to go places and speak to people. I won’t get into the details, but yesterday I signed my job offer to be a Flight Attendant with American Airlines.

So those who are reading this who have no idea what to do with your life, or even if you think you do, do what I did.

Sit down and figure out what your heart desires in this life the most. The things you are the most passionate about. Figure them out and see if you are on a path to follow them and accomplish them.

Because you do NOT have to go to school to be successful. And your dreams don’t have to be a figment of you imagination that you only come across while drooling on your pillow every night.

Life is not merely following the ways and sways of this world. It’s about finding yourself in the valleys and trouble of this life when passionately pursuing your hearts desires and learning the hard way. Not just on the mountain top that society tells us we have to live on to be this perfect human being (that we all know really does not exists)

As I close this rant of my heart, I inspire you to live a little. Take a little adventure with yourself to figure out who you are and how you want to use the time in your life.

You deserve to follow your dreams. Passionately. Because you are free. And you can adventure. And your allowed to fall on your face, but get back up and head in the other direction.

the organization I am apart of (Lionhart) once said: If your heart craves adventure, be open to it when the opportunity comes. You deserve freedom.

And you do.

Follow your dreams, I promise you will not regret it.

Much love friends.

Here come many adventures from flight attendant Tay.

The best has yet to come.

yo worth ain’t found there

I can’t tell you how easy it is to feel lonely now these days.

There’s a meal for one section at the grocery store. Most 5 year old’s I know have boyfriends and girlfriends. Every where I turn, there are friends getting married and wedding announcements being sent out left and right.

It could be so easy to get caught up in what I don’t have. But the beauty in life, and the moments that really count, are the ones where you choose to be thankful for what you do have. Where you are placed at the current season in life.

And what I’ve learned is that when I start to embrace the season and the gifts and blessings I have in the hear and now, it creates an aroma of thankfulness and peace that the Lord can work through and bless even more. All in His time.

But what I’d like to talk about for just a minute, and what I’ve been really realizing after talking to/ meeting many new souls recently is this simple truth. This post is more for the ladies than the men (sorry bros)

But as women, we get so caught up in what’s to come (especially future husband wise) and don’t get me wrong. It’s great, for we know that He who promised is faithful.

I used to be the one who wrote my future husband letters. Heck I still have a box full of them. But what if we started embracing the now? What if I wasn’t so worried about what was to come?

What if we stopped fangirling over ever attractive young man that walks in the coffee shop with a beard and tattoos?

What if we really waited on Jesus to bless us instead of always being on the search to fulfill our own desires?

As I type this, there is a voice in the back of my head saying PREACH GURRRLLL PREACH. so ladies, I’m in the same boat as you.

I look cute, I go out of my way to make sure a cute ‘lil hipster man makes sure I’m noticed. But, What if I started truly using our my moments and my time being single now, to fully and 100% keep our eyes fixed on Jesus? It’s not that I go out searching or sit places and hopelessly wait for a man to walk by. But I catch myself more than one time a day hoping and praying that the cute guy sitting next to me would just notice.

So ladies, I want to encourage you today as I encourage myself. Use this time and this season to passionately pursue your Creator and Heavenly Father. He has so much He wants to teach you and show you before we get caught up in the romantic life and marriage.

I know the “Christian Culture” throws that one around. It’s not talked about, but it’s true. So many young Christian’s get married fast and young. Which nothing AT ALL is wrong about that. When you are ready you are ready. And when you know, you know.

But I just want to encourage you today that you don’t have to be twenty or twenty-one and be married and in love.

Your worth is not found in your relationship status. Your worth is not found in your facebook relationship status.

Single or not, you are worth loving.

And whether you realize it or not, there are good men waiting patiently to find a woman like you. Just like we are waiting, dreaming, and praying; men do too. They wait for women of character, love, and passion.

Hold onto that hope today.

Blessings + love.

taking heart.

This isn’t the first time I have just stared at my computer screen in search of words to say. I’ve wanted to write so many times but I have just been so uninspired. But the sparks in my heart have been flickering up so much that it’s time I just let my heart do the talking.

Life has not been easy to say the least. There have been things that have happened to me over the past year that really hurt, and I’ve just tucked them into the deepest parts of my heart and moved on. I’ve let situations control me and people hurt me and I’ve taught myself to put my armor on and toughen up and take it all in.

Wrong. I do know this.

I’ve been confused as to what to do with all my passions and I haven’t known how to direct them into a career path. So I’ve been all over the place with that. And I’ve been angry at myself for being so confused. Questioning things I’ve done and decisions I made, wishing I had made others.

I haven’t let myself be a human you could say. And I’ve been playing this role that I have to be this perfect human being with everything figured out. And I lived in it. And the wounds got deeper and the pain got more real.

And I just realized last week why I’ve been feeling so empty. So disappointed in every aspect of my life. And it’s because I’ve been playing the God part. I’ve been trying to figure myself out and my life out when I have no power to do so. And I haven’t forgiven myself.

Little miss I know everything over here.

Isn’t it so funny that when you try to do things on your own, you always end up further back then you were before? and more disappointed than before?

I find myself laughing at myself constantly. I know all these things. I do. But that’s the beautiful thing about my heavenly Father. He sits back laughing at me to. But all the while He waits for me with His arms wide open. Ready to take back the throne of my life.

So here I am again. Writing to all of you beautiful people who find comfort in my messiness of words and trials.

Even though this season has been dry, long, and tiring I can tell you a few things that I have learned.

• Even when life seems messy and unorganized, it’s in those moments that the Lord works behind the scenes. More than He does when things seem pretty and perfect. The trails and the struggles really do make you stronger. And they grow your faith beyond what you might be feeling.
• Nothing is wasted. The pain you feel. The loneliness you experience. The trials you walk through. Keep your eyes on Him. He will take care of the things unseen. Trails produce triumph. Remember that.

My new life motto I wake up every day and tell myself states this:

Life is too short to spend it at war with yourself.

So I pick up the pieces, letting my graceful Jesus do all the mending. I take heart, I love myself and I forgive myself.

And just like that I see the hope and the light again.

So no matter where you might be reading this, I hope that the hurt and the pain eases itself a little bit. Realize you are not alone.

Let Him do the mending, fixing, and figuring out for your life. And you just trust and obey and walk how He calls you to walk. And everything else will work out from there.

Much love.

this really really blessed me tonight. hope it does for you as well. much love.

dear self,

embrace your singleness. for the time will come soon when you won’t be any longer. so be free, travel, fall in love with strangers, cities, books, and moments you won’t get back. one day soon love will creep up on you. and you won’t have time to reflect on what you missed out on. life is too short and there’s so much more to life than being in love.