Finding “Love” in a “Like”

Nowadays likes are everything. A bunch of likes on a picture can provide everything from affirmation to unspoken words of interest. They mean so much in fact that we, myself included, spend extra time crafting catchy captions and adding special filters for our photos. We take extra time sifting through dozens of pictures just to make sure we choose the picture that will give us the most likes. We base our popularity and the popularity of others on their number of likes. We have even begun basing our very importance on how many or how few likes we get on the things we post.

Like no joke, I literally saw a FB post a few weeks ago where the user posted something to the extent of, “Since nobody wished me happy birthday yet, happy birthday to me”. Likes surely followed, but that had to be the saddest thing to me because they were so reliant on social media in order for them to feel appreciated and recognized. And It’s so easy to mistake that people care about all you do just because they consistently like or love a picture you post. And to think….it was post that you intentionally selected in order to portray your best self in your best lighting. They don’t get the real you.

A like does not equate to real love and real genuine friendships with others. We spend so much time trying to please a screen with thousands of invisible viewers we forget how to really view and assess ourselves.

So I’m here to tell you that the person that you tuck away on your social media, spend time presenting and attending to that person. Whether or not the likes come you’re still amazing! Whether or not someone liked that Bible verse pic you posted or that pic addressing the fact you have a thing for anime…you’re still a winner big fella. You’re still cool in your very own way. So I just want to encourage us to not get caught up so much with trying to find our identity, self-worth, love, and etc. within our social media. Just so in case you forgot….the you and I that is 24/7 needs and is loved just as much as the person you post. And that is with or without a “like”. 

Much love dreamers,

Kie

I'm That Uncool Kid

I’m That Cool Uncool Kid

For a long time I was that so so cool kid that always strived to be Ms. Popular in life.

In fact, I vividly remember being in the fourth grade in my pink sweater, matching pink corduroy pants, braids draping down my back with edges in full flourish dreaming about what I’d be like in college and as a young adult. You know….because clearly I had missed the boat in becoming most popular according to Kiera’s “I’m a cool kid” check list.

I told myself in college and beyond I’d be super popular, I’d pledge in somebody’s sorority, my boyfriend would be that dude in life just like me, and everyone would love me. That was what I wanted…at least that’s what I thought I wanted. You want to know how that panned out for me though? Oh, glad you asked. Let me tell you.

I pledged in the sorority of architecture my freshman year and that journey literally sucked up all of my time. Instead of being friends with the entire school, I took absolute comfort in being good friends with all of about 8 people with 3 of those friends crossing over into my family circle. I even became totally comfortable with the fact that my style of dress and my hair changes would end up getting me more attention than anything for a little while. And oh, that boyfriend….we met alright. His name was Casper and he usually showed up after Jesus would periodically require me to trash my roster because I sure knew how to pick them. (You might have missed it….it’s ok.)

Here’s the point…I used to be so concerned with fitting in. I was so focused on trying to pay attention to other people’s attention towards me that I lost who I really was. I wanted to be at all the parties (struggles I still deal with actually). I wanted for my name to at the center of everyone’s conversation. I wanted things that would act as nothing but void fillers. Thankfully though, what God gave me instead was so much better. He gave me actual substance and because of Him I know life is so much more than the shallow things I had once hoped to become/have. While that little girl was hoping to transform into something else, little did she know she was blossoming perfectly in all her cute, glasses toting, loud and chubby-cheeked awesomeness.

So I say this in hopes of encouraging you to be yourself today no matter what that looks like. You’re truly perfect that way.

Much love,

Ki, the too cool for school dreamer

That Cool Uncool Kid

I’m Nobody’s Nothing (You Matter)

Honesty moment…as confident as I am in many other areas of life…my confidence in my intelligence/capabilities use to lag far….far behind me. Strange right? I know!

While I have gone ahead and addressed this lie time and time again, every now and then I still find confidence being put into question. For example, recently it seemed I was having an off day. (Disclaimer: I usually have some space cadet moments where I fire off questions I don’t think all the way through before posed. It’s made me the joy of people’s day, a huge source of laughter for some, and also the brunt of hurtful jokes at times to be quite honest.) Any who, in this off day I had posed about two questions at work of all places that when spoken aloud almost sent me straight into a confidence quest. The only difference between the way I handled these thoughts back then versus now is the fact that I have much more of an appreciation for my make as a person.

I realized that God modeled me after a very particular design, and God made NO mistake when he made me! While I might rattle off strange questions that might not make as much sense to the un-Kiera’d ear (yes, that’s a thing now haha), that same spacy thinking allows me to fire off about five creative ideas a day just about. This is unique to Kiera and I’ve come to love that part of me.

I say all this in hopes of convincing you guys that you’re nobody’s nothing. Everybody’s somebody’s everything! *cues up Chance* Learn to appreciate ANY and EVERY thing that makes you different because that person is awesome! There is no other you around! We might not be the world’s idea of a typical genius, gifted, accomplished or whatever else, but what you are is amazingly crafted! The world needs to see that somebody. Show them.

My name is Kiera, I think and talk a mile a minute, and I still don’t know everything there is to know about everything. I do know however, that I’m a SOMEBODY! Tuh! Better recognize! God told me so and now I’m telling you!

I’m Not Good Enough Now

I’m 86. I’m always 86 (a mature saint at this point) and I’m at a house on a porch….a porch of all places. Nature and I seldom see eye to eye so you can imagine why this is strange for me. Anywho, I’m on a porch in a rocking chair taking in this beautiful view. Right as this beautiful summer breeze is hitting my face I would pose the exact same question to my 86 year old self. “Did you accomplish everything you wanted to in your lifetime, Ki?” This overwhelming sadness would always follow because my answer would be, "No."

This is the dream of my biggest fear.

Prior to having this dream I use to be a perfectionist meaning I use to wait….and wait….and wait until everything was perfect before I went ahead and presented the world with whatever it was I was cooking up. Now while there’s nothing wrong with making sure that you cross all of your T’s and dot all of your I’s the arrival of those perfect moments are few, far, and very in between. A lot of the time I would waste more time preparing for that one perfect moment than actually implementing, encouraging, and improving upon them. I’d wait so long and it seem like a year would pass in a day’s time. I was ALWAYS waiting to be good enough when the awkward truth was…..

I’d never be good enough in that moment.

Yes, you heard me right. And that my friend is the beautiful part!

It is beautiful because it means you have no cap. It is beautiful because even on your very BEST day you still have room to improve.

So what that meant/means for me from now on is that if God had the nerve to lay it out in my mind RIGHT now, I’m gonna have the nerve (the audacity even) to get those plans in motion RIGHT now. Even if I have no idea of whom, how, or where I’m going to do it. Saints if God gave you a dream or a calling I encourage you with everything in me to stop waiting and press play on your efforts. You’ll never have it all together all at once, but you can still make one heck of a difference now! If you can dream it, you can do it! You can. Simple. Someone once told me that God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called. Stop ignoring your call. God didn’t dial the wrong number when he called you.

Every day I’m trying to make that 86 year old respond with a yes! Time waits for no one and neither do your dreams so stop acting as if you have all of the time in the world. You don’t. Don’t entertain the what if’s. Only be concerned with the what now’s.

So yes, the truth is I’m not good enough now…..I’m perfect. So are you.

Love you dreamers,

Ki