Hey there! A big thanks to Hannah for having me here today!
My name is Stephanie May Wilson and I’m a writer, dreamer, and celebrator writing over at StephanieMayWilson.com. I’m originally from Denver, lived in Georgia for the last few years, and just moved to Nashville with my brand new husband!
I’m a writer by day, and by night, which feels like the most unbelievable thing to say (or type) out loud. I write my own blog, just released my first eBook called The Lipstick Gospel, and write freelance articles for several pastors, churches, and organizations as well.
I started my blog because of an experience I had just after college.
The year after I graduated, I had the privilege of working as an intern at my college ministry. My main responsibility was leading a “small” group of 27 sorority girls (totally not a small group at all). I loved my year with those girls. I loved getting to sit over steaming mugs of coffee with them and talk about life, working through the hardest parts together.
Because of that year, I started thinking about the difficult times in our lives like a dark tunnel. We don’t know where we’re going, or even if we’re going to make it, and it feels like heaven to break out into the sunshine on the other side.
But after that year, I began to wonder if there wasn’t something better than just making it through. Instead, I wanted to grab a sweater and a sandwich (or anything comforting or helpful), and go back into the tunnel to help the next girl through.
This is what we do for each other when we tell each other our stories—we are entering back into the tunnel and giving the next girl a hand. This is why I started my blog. This is what StephanieMayWilson.com is all about.
My new eBook, The Lipstick Gospel, is the story of how a drunk sorority girl found God in heartbreak, the Sistine Chapel, and the perfect cappuccino. It’s my favorite story because, well, it’s my story. And because my life changed 100% in that season. I’d love to share it with you! You can download it for free right here!
The thing that fires me up most are women. I have such a heart for women of all ages, and I think that heart began developing as I led that small group after college.
We go through so much as women. There are struggles, and obstacles, and experiences that are uniquely our own, and that’s what I want to work to help. I think that so often we go through our life as our own worst critics. We tear ourselves apart, reminding ourselves at every turn how we’re not enough, and how we fall short. But I’m lobbying for us to befriend ourselves, falling in love with ourselves, and being our own biggest fans instead of critics.
If I had my way, every woman in the whole world would know how beautiful she is. She’d know how much she’s worth, and would believe it in every corner of herself. Women would be powerful and strong, using their God-given gifts to change the world in a way only they can do. They’d be restful instead of striving, joyful instead of stressed, and full instead of scraping at the bottom.
And the best way I see for women to become the people they were meant to be is if we do it together. Life is isolating. It’s so easy to feel alone in the things we’re going through, and that’s why I created my blog.
To me, my blog isn’t a blog. It’s a dinner table we can all gather around to talk about life—the best parts and the hardest parts. It’s a place where we can be honest, and unvarnished—taking down our masks and our pretenses to just be us. We can come without shoes, and without a clue about what to do, and can not only help each other, but receive the freeing gift of knowing we’re not in it alone.
I want to see women set free of the things that hold them back, and to become who they were always meant to be, and I want to do it together!
To me, ‘living the good life’ means living slowly. It means getting things done, and being a responsible human, working hard, and chasing your dreams. But it means living slowly enough to notice life as it’s happening.
You can tell a lot about how I’m living by the way I eat. If I’m grabbing food to go, wolfing it down in the car, barely tasting it, you’ll know I’m not living my version of the good life. The good life to me is taking the time to sit down and savor each bite, to be present in each conversation, noticing how each moment smells, tastes, and feels, instead of rushing right through and onto the next thing.
It’s not easy, and life doesn’t help us live this way. In fact, it does the opposite. But if we live intentionally, and if we practice living this way, I think we can do it.
In the aftermath of my book releasing, this is what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to slow down again, noticing and savoring every bite.
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This post appears as part of the In Her Words series. To learn more about In Her Words, click here.