Do people put pressure on you too? ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
| Hi John! This newsletter contains two really exciting announcements. The first is my new book and the second is about my new holiday greeting cards. Then there's also a letter about the pressure that comes from 'the Truth of the Word'. Cartoon: My new book cover! 🏳️🌈
Dad Joke: People change, even the little ones 👀
Post: Take away sex and hell 👹
Quote: Yoga and fitting yourself in 🧘♀️
Announcement: New Holiday Greeting Cards 🎄
Artwork: I Need to Find My Friends 🦅
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| Cartoon: My New Book Cover! |
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| This week's cartoon is in celebration of my new children’s book that's coming out soon. It's called “The Rainbow Sheep” and is a humorous story about inclusion, self-acceptance, and the joy of being different. Ricky lives with a flock of sheep that prizes conformity. When one sleeps, they all sleep. When one eats, they all eat. When one baa-a-a-s, they all baa-a-a. And they all dress the same too. Every single day. Until a rainbow sheep joins the flock and everything changes! Rainbow is so fun and so free! Ricky becomes friends with Rainbow and starts showing her true color too. How will the rest of the flock react? It's written and illustrated by me for you with so much love. P.S. With everything going on in the U.S., I recommend you order the book before it gets banned 😂😳🏳️🌈 (Canadians pre-order HERE or at Indigo.) |
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| My wife asked me, “Are you sometimes surprised at how little people change?” I said, “Actually, the process is the same. They just have tiny clothes." |
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| New: Holiday Greeting Card Packs |
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| I ho-ho-hope you like holiday greeting cards because I’ve just added five new packs of holiday greeting cards to my store! I used to sell them and have brought them back after a few people asked me to. Each pack contains five greeting cards. |
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I’ve become a fan of Claire Dederer. It started when I read her book Monsters. Then I read Love and Trouble. Now I’m reading Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses. This quote is from her yoga instructor, Fran: “When we try to fit our bodies into an idea, it’s dangerous. We stop feeling from the inside and take cues from the outside about what we should be doing. This can lead to injury and, even worse, to dissatisfaction.” This is so true. Including spiritually! Let me share what I’m thinking about that. |
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| The Truth (& Pressure) of the Word |
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| Someone came into my Instagram comments this week with a very judgmental tone towards my post and everyone with whom it resonated. Of course, it wasn’t her or her words… it was the Truth of the Word. God himself. She takes no responsibility. I responded to her, “I feel a lot of pressure from you to not be honest!” When I said that, it was like a light went on. That really is it! I need to be honest. I need to be true to my own self, be my own self, my true authentic self, and not some contrived idea of myself that comes from outside of me. I cannot fit into everybody’s or anybody’s ideal expectation of what they think I should be. To reflect Dederer, my whole life I was trying to fit my spirit into an idea, and it was dangerous. I stopped feeling from the inside and took cues from the outside about what I should be doing. It lead to injury, and, even worse, dissatisfaction. This, in a nutshell, is the gist of deconstruction. It’s reclaiming ownership of yourself. It’s taking back the reins, the steering wheel, the controls, of your own life. It’s you becoming self-determining, autonomous, and spiritually independent. It means feeling from the inside what you need and want, and honouring those. This goes against everything religious, because religion is all about controlling you from the outside. In fact, it can be the absolute enemy of your authentic self. But, of course, this is why deconstruction can be so traumatic. |
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| Original Artwork: I Need To Find My Friends |
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| Do you feel lonely? Wandering by yourself? No consistent love of friends? I know the feeling now. Especially since leaving religion. I'm making new friends now. But it will never be like it was. Maybe that all wasn't as real as I thought. These fall days are full of wind, and the crows play in it. They remind me of me. They always find their friends. We will too. Hang this as a reminder that feeling in between is okay. |
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| This community blows my mind. I can't believe I've got a children's book coming out soon! I hope it helps make a small difference in the way we raise our children. Inclusivity matters! ✊ Much love my friend, David |
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NakedPastor Gondola Point Road Quispamsis, NB E2E 1H6 |
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