Quote #97: Sara Jacobs Carter

I’m Sara JacobsCarter, a proud member of the Midland Area Wellbeing Coalition. I’m also the Youth Impact Coordinator for the Midland Area Community Foundation and Advisor to the Midland Area Youth Action Council. One of my favorite quotes is, “you’re allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress, simultaneously” by Sophia Bush. When it comes to wellbeing, I’m not sure if there’s a more succinct quote than the one above – in just 13 little words, it holds space for both strength and growth areas, for both happiness and struggles, for both satisfaction and humility, for both contentment and evolution. For all of it.

I think that’s one facet of the artistry of wellbeing – knowing to the depths of your soul that regardless of your mistakes, the hard times you’ve struggled through, and the injustices visited upon you by the world that surrounds us that you are an utter triumph and that you are worthy of love and regard and admiration. You absolutely are and you always have been. You are a *chef’s kiss* MASTERPIECE.

Don’t think that being a masterpiece doesn’t mean you get to put away your wellbeing art supplies, though! There are amazing and important contributions that only you can give to this world, and some of them are going to take effort. There are new techniques to learn. There are skills to cultivate and obstacles to overcome. There are vital collaborations with other artists. All that necessary creation takes work and – when done authentically – changes you for the better.

As with any work in progress, there will be strokes of genius that feel channeled through you by a higher power and days when it feels like you’ll need every bit of your willpower to keep going. To me, wellbeing means knowing you’ll experience both and that there is important learning inherent to every bit of the continuum of being “in progress.” How are you both a masterpiece and a work in progress?