Identity – James Tippins

Every year, twice a year, the American public willingly participates in one of the oldest and most pointless civic rituals in the modern world. We do not question it. We do not protest it. We simply stumble to the nearest clock (or more accurately, we watch our phone do it automatically) and we accept the new reality as handed down from whatever committee of sleep-deprived bureaucrats has decided,...

Most people have never been asked who they are in a way that required a real answer. The world is extraordinarily skilled at substituting that question with easier ones. What do you do. Where are you from. What do you believe. What do you want. These are all answerable without risk, without revelation, without the particular kind of stillness that the deeper question demands. And so people move th...

There are poems that decorate language, and then there are poems that indict the soul. Dylan Thomas’ villanelle, written in 1951 as his father was going blind and approaching death, is not merely a meditation on mortality; it is a structured rebellion against diminishment. The villanelle form itself, with its nineteen lines and two refrains braided through the body of the poem, is a discipline of...

There is only one day I have ever truly lived. Not because I chose it. Not because it aligned with my desires. Not because it brought triumph or peace or even clarity. But because it was the only day that existed. And that day—this day—is always now. This is the first claim:Today is the best day of my lifenot because it is pleasurable, successful, or redemptive—but because it is real. This claim,...

Momentum is not the problem. It never was. I have always known how to generate force, how to translate thought into action, how to press forward when everything in me wanted to retreat. My capacity for movement has never been in question. But there comes a point where movement itself must be examined—where the momentum that once felt like power begins to feel like compulsion. Where the force that...

The End of Anxiety: How I Deal with Intensity, Contempt, and Triggers Without Losing Myself I haven’t felt anxiety in over 670 days. No panic. No self-doubt. No feeling of being overwhelmed by the world’s chaos. And it’s not because life got easier. It’s not because people stopped being difficult. It’s because I found myself. Once anxiety disappeared, I expected smooth sailing, but that’s not how...

The End of Anxiety: How Knowing Myself Set Me Free Anxiety is the chaos of being lost—the fear that arises when you do not trust, love, know, or believe in yourself enough to face, handle, embrace, or overcome an experience, whether real or imagined. I haven’t felt anxiety in over 660 days. No panic, no racing thoughts, no knots in my stomach, no dread clawing at my chest. It’s not because life su...

Few phrases hit harder than when the person we love says, “I’m not attracted to you anymore.” It feels like a direct assault on our identity, our value, and the very core of who we are. But in reality, while this statement is deeply painful, it holds within it layers of meaning, about them, about us, and the relationship. Understanding these layers and knowing how to respond with grace, authentici...

Forgiveness is a word that carries the weight of a lifetime, doesn’t it? It’s simple to say, but its depth is something that can drown you before it saves you. For years, I misunderstood forgiveness. I thought it was something I did for the benefit of others, a way to release them from the consequences of their actions. What I didn’t see—what I couldn’t see—was how forgiveness was never about them...

To be alone is often a fear most cannot consider, much less face. The silence of solitude terrifies because it leaves us with nothing but ourselves, stripped of the noise that so often fills our days and drowns out the questions we are too afraid to ask. Yet, in solitude lies a gift unmatched, a chance to meet the self hidden beneath the weight of the world’s demands. In solitude, we find our way....

“I need nothing.” The words hang in the air like they shouldn’t belong to me, but they do. They weren’t always mine, though. There was a time when the word need felt like an open door to panic, a constant grasping for something—validation, security, meaning—that I didn’t believe I had. Back then, every want disguised itself as a need, and I let it drive me, like a machine powered by fear of not be...

Ideas are a dime a dozen; they're everywhere, all the time, all at once and it's very hard to tell we're even being influenced by them. I've engaged in some extremely diverse think tanks only to find the majority of of people just want to be heard. Everyone seems to be an expert, and yet, most of us are not able to complete daily tasks, much less lead others to the promised land. So, why do so man...

When a Man is Wanted, Loved, Touched, and Known I’ve lived through the seasons of what it feels like to be wanted and the emptiness of what it feels like when you’re not. There’s a shift that happens in a man when his wife wants him, not just as a partner in life, not just as a provider, but as a man. When she sees you, desires you, and chooses you, something changes. You feel it in your chest, in...

Fear as Fuel: A Journey into Adventure and Growth (A Reflection on an Old Discovery) Fear is universal. It touches every part of our lives, shaping the choices we make and the paths we take. For many, fear feels like a wall; stopping progress, stalling dreams, and creating hesitation. But what if fear isn’t the enemy? What if it’s the guide we’ve been waiting for, pointing us toward the things tha...

Living Freely Without Fear: A Call to the Church In the New Testament, the concept of freedom is central to the believer's life. This freedom, as taught by Jesus and the apostles, isn’t just about being released from the bondage of sin; it’s about living in a state of spiritual liberty that reflects the gospel's transformative power. But as we explore this freedom, we must recognize a crucial aspe...

Self-improvement. A testament often heralded but fraught with peril. Indeed, we should strive to work on ourselves, but the reflection of my soul once revealed a man I neither desired to be nor to present to the world. Improving the frail, fearful, and broken shell I once was, projecting a façade of confidence unconsciously, was not the answer. No, that man needed to die. And die, he did. In some...