My Creed

A key pillar of the JVC Northwest experience is community. This means more than just living in a house with other volunteers in the program who are serving at similar non-profits as you. It means intentionally and presently sharing our experience and our lives together. Being such a strongly independent person, community was something I was really nervous about while entering into this year. But thanks to the incredible four people who I get to call my community members, community has become one of the best parts about this experience thus far. I actually don't know if I could have handled this change without it.

One of the ways we practice intentional community is by sharing what we call "community and spirituality nights". These are times that we set aside once a week to reflect individually and as a group, and through the process get to know one another a bit better. For our most recent community and spirituality night, one of my community members asked us to write our own personal creed and share it with the group. Articulating what I believe in felt really hard at first, but what I came up with is something I really love.

Below is my creed, taken raw and unfiltered straight from my journal where I wrote it down. The first part might seem less like a creed and more of just my thoughts, but those thoughts speak just as truly to how I think and what I believe in as do the more formal statements that follow them. I hope this creed speaks to who I am as a person and how I strive to move through the world.

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Creed

Stating my beliefs feels hard because it feels like such a commitment to say "I believe this". And what's the difference between believing in something and holding it for a fact? Maybe there is some overlap but I also feel like there's a distinct difference. Maybe it will be easier to say or start with "I think I believe". Although that feels wishy washy.

I believe. . .

I actually just googled "believe" (to make sure I was spelling it right) and there are two accepted definitions of the word. One is "to accept as true; feel sure of the truth of". The other is "to hold as an opinion; to think or suppose". I like that the definition acknowledges the thinking and supposing, the uncertainty and maybe doubt that lies with naming a belief.

I believe in change and uncertainty and doubt as a core function of life -- I believe this to be true, as a fact.

I believe that putting yourself in the face of difference and feeling unsure and afraid is the way to find bravery, humility, and growth -- at least for me.

I believe there is no such thing as perfection, even though I am constantly--against my own best interest--trying to defy this. I am learning to believe that imperfections are beautiful, even when it comes to myself.

I believe that we are innately social beings, that people are life. This does not mean that you always have to be around people, or that you cannot have respect for and find value in alone time. But I believe that the most beautiful moments in life happen in interactions between people.

I believe that there are no "shoulds", no real right or wrong. I believe that life is most definitely not black and white -- I like to believe that instead it is a great big rainbow.

I want to believe that there is no such thing as bad people -- only "bad" environments, systems, decisions, things. Sometimes this feels hard to believe in.

I believe that at the end of the day it is you and your journey. Some people may come and stay, some people may come and go. I believe that we cannot control everything, but it is important to take ownership of and claim the life that is ours.

I believe that it all begins and ends in your mind -- what you give power to gets power over you.

I believe that we are meant to be human beings, not human doings, and I believe that we could all stand to dedicate a little more time to just being.

I believe that what I believe in will change, just as life changes and I continue to change and evolve and become. I believe that is normal. I am learning to believe that is okay.

I believe that we as humans are dynamic beings.

I believe in the power of showing up imperfectly.

I believe that we all deserve to be loved -- and how powerful it is to be loved.