A few thoughts on who Breathing Room is written for . . .

I wrote Breathing Room because I was in search of space, and I needed to know how to find some in my own life. My soul felt tight, and if you’re interior world has ever felt tight, then you know that things can feel anywhere on the spectrum from uncomfortable to downright desperate. So I started writing about that.

How it felt to feel tight inside. How it felt to feel like I couldn’t find my way to any kind of space. What I was longing for. What I believed Christ was offering me. I wrote about all that.

I think we arrive at “soul tightness” a million different ways. Trauma can take us there. Loss. Change. External circumstances can push and pull and twist our insides in all sorts of gnarly ways. But then there’s also our internal worlds, and the thoughts and beliefs that rattle around in our heads and hearts all day long, usually kept hidden from the rest of the world. That internal world is as powerful as our external circumstances and can catapult us into overwhelm as surely as any catastrophe.

I wrote Breathing Room for the person who is navigating that soul tightness — who is wanting to lean into it — no matter how it has arrived. No matter. We don’t have to line up our reasons and see who is most worthy of struggle. I’m inviting everyone, instead, to come to the table regardless of how your life looks on the outside. If your insides need relief, space, hope, breath, life, then let’s talk.

So Breathing Room is for anyone who needs to be reminded that . . .

• Being blessed and struggling can coexist. They are not two ends of a spectrum. We can be both grateful for our lives and also be overwhelmed by them at the same time. That works in God’s emotional economy.
• We will never find breath and space as long as we are in an adversarial relationship with ourselves. We must learn to be on our own team.
• We are human.
• We have been offered the grace to begin again.
• Praying the tiniest, simplest prayers is a great place to start.
• Phoning a friend can really change things.
• One of the few things we can control in life is how we treat ourselves.
• We might want to consider letting go of the ways we are bullying and silencing ourselves.
• We need to forgive ourselves.
• Moving our hands and our bodies often helps.
• Wandering doesn’t always have to be a waste.
• Beauty can arrive when and where we expect it the least.
• We are heartbroken.
• We can continue, even in the face of our heartbrokenness.
• God is offering us a lifeline . . . that lifeline rarely comes in the package we would have liked or chosen.
• God not only sees us; he loves us.

I hope this gives you a bit more of a feel for who might be interested in picking up a copy of the book. But if I’ve left anything out or if you have additional questions, please go for it! Anything you’d like to ask me about the contents, themes, material, intended audience, etc.?

Love you guys, tender warrior tribe.