The Principle of Locality: Starting Where You Are With What You Have

We currently live in a 450 square foot apartment. We don’t own a music studio, a dining room, or a beautiful writing room. We still have student debt, the education surrounding our craft is still being developed, and the herb garden we made for our porch was literally built from scraps a neighbor was throwing away. I own a ten year old laptop and have a severely outdated version of photoshop. But here we are, living our dreams. 

See it all begins from starting where you are, with what you have. At OLIVEHOME we call this the Principle of Locality. 

We are dreamers and this year was all about moving from dreamers who think about their dreams, to being dreamers who actually put legs on their dreams and begin running with all our hearts. Noah, my husband of seven months, and I have dreamed up a life together. One where we host extravagantly, give generously, and intentionally teach and disciple creatives. Some tired eyes see this as “young love” but we see it as obedience to our calling. So what did we do? We looked at what was already in our hands. 

Our 450 square foot apartment is the place where we extravagantly host companions, neighbors, family, and sometimes even strangers who become friends. This home is where we write courses, disciple creatives, and develop some of the most beautiful ideas. We live within our financial means, but it never stops us from moving forward. We take scraps, and we make them stunning, effective, full functioning pieces in our home. My ten year old laptop and outdated version of photoshop is the mighty vessel on which I built OLIVEHOME!

If your excuse today is “I don’t have enough money” or “I don’t have a big enough platform” or maybe even, “I am not beautiful enough, smart enough, qualified enough”, trust me… we have been there. But no matter who you are, where you are, or what you have, there is enough for you to start taking steps. There is enough for you to move one inch, forward or even backward, direction doesn’t really matter because growth often looks different than we think. Movement matters. And if you cannot move in any direction, acceptance and compassion is movement enough but that is another subject for another time. 

What is in your hand? & What is accessible to you? 

We must first begin by discovering the dream, discovering the thing that was most likely planted in you years and years ago. What do you want? What is your heart’s greatest desire? What do you want to put your hands to and what will you generously and tenderly care for in the highs and lows? There are most likely many dreams in your heart. They need not be comprehensive or cohesive, they just need to be authentic to you. ( Posts coming soon on dreaming tools and perspectives to help you in your journey. )

Next, we look at what is in your hands. Do you have an instrument? Is your voice memo app nearby? Do you know how to cook one meal? Does your phone have a camera? Are there pockets in your day spent on meaningless distractions that could be transformed to 15 min of writing, producing, or maybe even walking around your neighborhood for inspiration? There are many things in your hands, but one of the most weighty things is in fact your dream. Your dream is in your hands, and only in yours. No one else can carry your dream or live out your dream, because it is your dream- beautifully fashioned, intricately designed, for you.

Your dream will not be accomplished when you finally have all the equipment the professionals have, it will happen when you look at what you have and you begin to show up to your life. 

One mentor I had in high school told me, “If you can run a mile, you can run a marathon.” 

So I learned to run a mile and then I ran a marathon, and four half marathons after that. 

If you have an iphone, you can release a song. If you have a camera, you can take a picture. If you have a table, you can host a meal. If you have a pencil, you can write a poem. If you have three kids, you have unlimited access to the most pure, powerful teachers of imagination.

You have what you need. 

TOOL: Examine

1. Write a list of 10 things you have 
2. Journal about each thing you think of and brainstorm possibilities for each of them. 
1. Example: 1 hour of downtime on Thursday mornings: call a friend who inspires me, sit at my piano for 30 minutes, paint, read my favorite poet, try baking a new recipe, have an hour of quiet with no technology in the room, start the blog
3. Pick one item and one new idea and try to accomplish it by the end of the week

PERSPECTIVE: Locality 

Locality is what I desire to grow in your heart. I desire that you would live by starting where you are with what you have. Every day, wake up and see what is being offered to you. This takes a lot of rewriting if you have not yet trained the thoughts of inadequacy in your mind. Be on a constant look out for the things you already have that can be used to take a step towards seeing your dream become a reality. Whenever you feel that disappointing lie that you don’t have what it takes, show compassion to your heart and give yourself space to process while reminding yourself of the truth: You have all that you need, right in front of you. 

My dream is to unlock creatives. Which is why you are here, why I am here… in my inspiring blue chair found on offerup, facing my bookshelf made of cinderblocks, near my couch that is being held up by a guitar case, in my beautiful 450 square foot apartment. It is time that we all show up to our beautiful lives. It is time to stop hiding our dreams in blankets of fear and blaming it on a lack of resources. You have all that you need. It is time to take one step, any step. 

Chat soon, 

Debs🏡