Final email before enrollment opens up. 🎉

I haven't told you this yet, but I've been writing all of these emails organically just barely in front of sending them to you. It's been a highlight of my day. Forcing myself to sit down and share the stories in my head.

For me it has felt like coloring in one of those intricate coloring pages that look like a mandala of some kind. Then when I'm done, I fold it into a paper airplane, walk out onto my deck, and toss it into the breeze and trust that it will make its way to you.

I've hit the pause button for Florian today, but don't worry...there's a few more sparkly nuggets still to come. Today, I want to offer you something practical.

Well before JORE started, I made a commitment to a daily practice in my quest for a more just world.

I can remember the day that I decided this.

It was morning. I swung my legs around for my usual pause to reorient myself to the less favorable, upright position. I glanced over at the dusty stack of books on my nightstand. It was the routine way to begin my day - feeling like an absolute fraud.

There were many days I thought of buying another book just so I didn't have to see the dust on the top. I guess I could have also wiped the dust from the books but dusting had never been my thing.

On this morning...somehow...I was able to move past the guilt and I found myself remembering...

The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

I looked at the titles.

Asked myself which one excites me the most.

Blew the dust off like I was blowing out birthday cake candles and cracked it open.

The book did not disappoint. It was as yummy as a slice of birthday cake (with a scoop of vanilla on top, of course).

I was only a few pages in before I heard one of my kiddos lumbering to the bathroom.

And then I thought of my mother-in-love...

She had told me years ago when we were first welcoming our sons into our lives,

"You must learn to get good at doing things in 15 minute increments"

A light bulb went off.

I had been stuck in the picture of reading from my pre-children days where I could have a full hour or even half of a day to read and think and dream.

It was that day that I made a commitment to myself. To become who I said I wanted to be. To begin by carving out as many 15 (or 5) minute increments in the day to give myself to this transformation I knew I needed in order to be a better partner, mother, sister, friend, human.

I began to reclaim the lost moments of my day.

I carried a book everywhere with me. If the person I was meeting was running five or ten minutes late - I celebrated and pulled out my book. If the boys wanted an extra few minutes at the park - I celebrated and pulled out my book. I listened to audio books and podcasts while cleaning the house or as I ran errands. I watched TedTalks and YouTube clips after climbing into bed at night.

If it fit into 15 minutes, I knew I could do it.

That's how it began.

For those of you who are new here...at some point you'll hear me reference my white abolitionist practice so let me just tell you now what I mean by that.

I identify as white because even though that is a socially constructed racial assignment, I am at a place where I want to acknowledge the world I live in while moving toward the world I want to live in. I wouldn't put it past me to be wrong about this. It's just where I am.

I identify as an abolitionist because I believe that all systems of oppression should be abolished. It's the world out on the horizon that I can't fully picture but that I'm moving toward.

I practice because that is how I have experienced tremendous growth. If you love math, you know about exponents. If you are a parent, you know how quickly your pantry empties when children are on a growth spurt. If you have ever worked to master a sport, you know about muscle memory.

My white abolitionist practice is my daily pursuit of a just world.

Right about now, you might be thinking, "of course you work at it daily, it's your job" so let me just say...

Everything JORE offers is birthed directly out of the womb of my personal transformation practice. JORE is the external expression of something that is happening in me.

I believe that you should ask me (or anyone else you are listening to) what I'm learning this week and how it is transforming me. A personal transformation practice is the thing that anchors me to the ground so I'm not able to climb up onto that alluring soap box.

We cannot improve something we aren't doing.

Before we can scale a mountain, we must be willing to step over stone.

Just get started.

Or refresh your commitment.

Carve out five minutes today. And tomorrow. Then fifteen. And stick with it no matter what.

Yesterday, so many of you replied to let me know you are still with me.

One said simply "if not now, when?"

That is what The Time Is Now is all about.

Let me know if you have any lingering questions or thoughts.

Talk to you tomorrow.