It’s gotten colder, but there’s no wind.

I’ve been in the city.

Little things have been making me feel spread out… Like the other day I had the beginnings of a song, but my guitar’s in a closet in Alabama. Or I wanted to paint a square for something, but my gouache and the paper cutter are… also in Alabama. There was a slow day that I thought of my huge-comfy yellow t-shirt (not here either), and then my shoes started leaking when it rains, which isn’t a problem except that my winter shoes didn’t make it into the suitcase.

It’s like I have everything I need, but not in the same place at the same time.

Ever, actually.

And those are just my things. I’m not even going to start on never having all my people together.

But the point isn’t to complain, I’m writing this because never having it all together has made me aware of that thing everywhere I go, in people everywhere.

Nobody has it all together…

Pay attention:

The lady in the fancy coat — her left shoe is scuffed, and quick, look in her eyes before she passes by… she’s tired.

The group of teenagers — check out how they’re holding their coffee, how they’re standing. Are they actually having any fun, or is “coffee” just what they think they’re supposed to do?

The girl behind the checkout — her ponytail is Day3. She’s working, but she’s not really here. Is she overwhelmed trying to juggle school and this job? They said that’s getting more and more common…

Suit guy, three o’clock — his blacks are off and the jacket’s just a teenytiny bit too tight… Was he required to have a suit for work and pieced it together best he could? Suits are expensive…

It’s not just me. Nobody has it all together. Not a single person. Not one.

There are so many nice cars parked in front of old apartment buildings, so many not-so-nice ones parked in front of big houses… It’s like sometimes some things are good, and later other things are good, but it’s never All Good.

It’s making me think about God and about how, as long as we keep messing up, he doesn’t get to have it all together either. It’s making me think about how he must be waiting and waiting until his All Good plans are ready. When finally…

I don’t know what it will actually be like, but I think it will feel like:

I look my best, I feel my best, and hey! my steps are spring-y…

Coffee, such friends… How is this so easy? (How is everyone so masterful at puns?)

I’ve got this. And I have awesome hair.

I love doing great work in this suit custom-tailored for me (for free) by the King of Armani.

It will feel like having all the good things in life everywhere you go, all the time. (Especially all your people.)

Thank God, we’ll finally… get it together.