Hi there!
If you’ve been around these parts for awhile, you might notice a slight change in the layout of this weekly newsletter. We (as in me, myself, and I) finally made the switch over to Substack!
I’ve been hearing about the benefits of this platform for a long time now: it’s community-centered, so writers really are able to cheer on their fellow writers. It makes for robust conversation with and between readers, which is something I’m really excited about as I start to dabble in the waters of my next book. And, it allows for all of us to pay writers, when and as we believe in the words that fly from their fingertips.
This last one, of course, can oftentimes be the trickiest. Although I always loved writing, it wasn’t until I left the nonprofit ministry sector nearly a decade ago that I intentionally started to write (and eventually, call myself a writer). So, I did the thing I thought I was supposed to do: I started a blog and wrote a few times a week. Eventually, I figured out how to pitch and (sometimes) started getting paid to write. But that was always held up against an expectation that I would also tell (free) stories on Instagram and Facebook, aim to be quippy on Twitter, and connect with those in the publishing industry on LinkedIn.
Maybe I’m doing it all wrong, because this is largely still what I’m doing today, but I also know that just as I have been changed by the power of words, others have been changed by my words too. Eventually, I’ll give folks an opportunity to support the power of my words - for this is not just my heart and the thing I can’t not do,1 but it’s also how I pay the mortgage.
That is for another time, though, for today is about the background to Coloring Outside the Lines (because I’m just another heretic in the making).
When I began writing for Patheos several years ago, my friend Jerusalem and I decided to name my blog “Coloring Outside the Lines.” At the time, I was just beginning to dabble in making public my thoughts and existence outside the white, evangelical bubble. Even though I had been on the journey for a good number of years, I was also just beginning to test out words “white supremacy” and “power dynamics.” I was just beginning to publicly state that I believed our LGBTQ+ family deserved a seat at the table.
As a white, straight woman, it had always been my privilege not to have to say anything - to get to choose whether or not I said something in the first place.
In reality, I was just scared: scared to lose community, scared to lose speaking engagements, scared to lose the connections I felt like I’d built up.
God, what a shame.
The idea of coloring outside the lines felt so provocative, so daring, so different from everything I’d ever known. It felt like I was learning how to ask questions and test boundaries and not play by the rules for the very first time.
I suppose the idea of coloring outside the lines, again, still feels fresh to me. We’re not done learning, growing, being. If luck has its way in our lives, we’ll continue to move forward on these journeys of becoming.2
But as for me, this journey of becoming also means that I might just be another heretic in the making (or so a few choice individuals have so vocally said “in love”).
What is a heretic, you ask?
a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.
anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.3
I’m in! That’s me! I’m a nonconforming, pleasantly principled God girl who constantly spews forth contrarily-acceptable opinions and rejects prescribed doctrines. Perfect!4
In all truth, I’m excited to start talking about the things that have been rumbling around in my head for awhile now. I’m excited to throw around some ideas and conversation starters with you, especially when it comes to this elusive book project I keep hinting at. I’m excited to figure things out together and perhaps even provide a soft, safe place for all of us to land.
Care to color outside of the lines with me, again?
I can’t wait!
Love,
NCPPGGWCSFCAORPD, if you know what I mean
Go read Erin S. Lane’s “Good for You” newsletter if you haven’t already. It’s all up in these “things you can’t not do” parts.
Have you not read Michelle Obama’s Becoming yet? Come on now. Also, today’s video from Dr. Roberto Che Espinoza is stunning.
“heretic,” Dictionary.com
I also finally watched the Rob Bell documentary, The Heretic, and am currently reading Marla Taviano’s unbelieve: poems on the journey to becoming a heretic, both of which I highlight recommend. I guess you could say heresy’s been on my mind.
CARA, you heretic, welcome to Substack! I'm so glad your writing is here and coloring outside the lines, again.
Thanks for reading my book. 🥰 Really looking forward to our IG live chat!