Hey, Good Morning; it’s Tyler Head.

I am glad you are here this morning.

Last week I shared with you a brief writing about an invitation to deep relationship titled Tell Me Your Story.

Check it out, and be encouraged, dear friend.

This week, I want to reinvite you into and review the first half of my first writing through this platform, titled Growing to Like Tomatoes.

It has been revised and changed.

This has been a long time coming.

I’ve had much fear about making my writing public. Although I’ve posted plenty of excerpts on social media, this feels huge to me. On social media, I can control the span of time it is posted and even who views it.

[20 posts in….it’s less scary, but feels like a big deal - words are POWERFUL]

Inviting others to move towards a relationship through this communication medium feels scary. Very scary.

I am not fully certain why writing publically feels so weighty, but maybe it should.

Maybe it’s because I have an inflated view of self or a small view of self? Probably somewhere between - depending on the day.

I’ve heard it said that the opposite of selfishness is not selflessness but thinking of yourself less.

Katherine and I are expecting a baby in the winter of this year - I am sure I will learn a lot about self-forgetfulness soon.

A good friend of mine actually wrote a book about this concept titled The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness. 

It’s a short read and kind help in the practice of being with and being be’d with.

Here we are, and I am glad you are here.

Why We Are Here

I believe much life is found in writing and inviting.

Writing internally, externally, on paper, on keyboards, on whiteboards.

Inviting into, to, with.

Your story, my story, our story.

It's as if we were designed to be with and be be'd with.

In the being with and being be'd with - we often find those inflated or small views of ourselves begin to be rightsized. Slowly allowing us to turn outward toward others seems to be a filling way to live.

I like to think that I love people well and deeply. Thus I’d like to share my life with people as I know how.

The purpose of this blog is to invite you into lessons learned from being with people. Past, present, and future - we learn a lot from and learn a lot with.

I hope this writing in your inbox inspires you to continue in the practice of being with people - because I believe we have much to learn.

Invitation Into this Bigger Story

I specifically use invitational language because you are a part of this story. The bigger story of humanity. I want you to be a part. I am really glad you are a part. As a matter of fact, I will end most of these writings with an open-ended question or two and an invitation to respond.

To remind you as often as possible that you are apart.

Little or small - I'm inviting you into it all.

…..hehehe, language is beautiful.

Our stories are impactful and I believe that people are woven into its fabric from birth.

At times, many of us, myself included, can lose sight of this gift somewhere along the way - for many good reasons.

But nevertheless, I’ve come to believe that people, exactly as they are in our story, are a gift.

This doesn’t make the act of being with and being be’d with easy. But a practice worthy of pursuit.

In her book Bird By Bird, my friend Anne says it plain and simple

“You must learn about people from people.”

Anne Lamott

Through this medium, I want to walk and talk with you. Really, explore the gift of being with people.

Thanks again for being here.

Seeing that this one is the kicking off of this thing, I figured I'd come in, palms wide open, and share an overview of who, where, and how I am - Next Week.

But until then - where are you in your story? What do you notice going on around you? Who’s around you? What daily activities bring joy? Sorrow?

Where are you in the larger fabric of the story?

Talk again soon!

Thanks for being you.

Just a reminder: If this provokes a response in you — feel free to type it out, send it over, and I’ll read it. Or type it out and save it for later.

Also, If you enjoyed this - copy the link and share.