It’s Crap Unless It Moves You

I’ve had that phrase stuck in my head for weeks now. Someone who inspires me wrote it well over a year ago. I just keep circling back to it, again and again, whatever else is going on.

A song on the radio. A fleeting moment with a friend. An article in a paper. A film.

It’s crap unless it moves you.

There’s this song that’s been stuck on repeat for the last few weeks, much like that phrase. It’s by a beautiful band called The Autumn Film (and if you haven’t heard them yet, you should check them out). It moves me in ways that a song has not done in a long time. The melody, the chord progression, the lyrics… they move me to my knees, they move me to tears. They break me and mend me in ways “church music” rarely does.

Inner walls are tumbling down, feel it crumble
theres nothing left to tear down, theres only gravel
i’m breaking now, i’m breaking down

don’t give up on me now
this can all be mended
we can iron this out
it can all be mended
when youre tearing at the seems
it can all be mended

Keep fighting for your story. Some days it’ll be light and you’ll laugh easily among friends. Other days it’ll be all you’ve got to get out of bed and face the world again. Heavy and light.

It’s crap unless it moves you, crap unless it connects with your story, meets you in your pain, reminds you of your dreams, reminds you what’s possible.

Don’t give up on me now, this can all be mended.

Talk Me Through The Night

“there is certainly much at stake. i don’t know your story or your dreams or the things that steal your sleep, but i know they matter. i hope your story is rich with other characters, rich with friends and conversation. i hope you know some people who will carry you and i hope you get to carry them. i hope that there is beauty in your memories and i hope it doesn’t haunt you. And if it does, then i hope there is someone who will talk you through the night and remind you of the promise of the sunrise, that beauty keeps coming, that there are futures worth waiting for and fighting for and that you were made to dream.”

Jamie never fails to write words that move me.