By Ashley Smith:

Ever feel like events happen in just the right order, the perfect mix of surprise and serendipity?

I was walking along Palisades Park by the Santa Monica Pier with friends on Saturday. They were in town on a road trip and we were exploring Los Angeles. That’s when I intersected with a traveling poet. Instead of street performing, he sat with a typewriter and was offering to write on a topic each person decided.

Here is the poem he wrote for me:

Backtrack a month prior, I was talking to Ben Arment of STORY about courage and I shared with him an idea of bringing handwritten and handcrafted journaling/letters of courage to STORY from the People of the Second Chance community. This idea came after connecting with the community of creatives  and the art journaling movement.

Then, yesterday, I read the post from Mohan… and I knew I was ready to share this idea and invite each of you to get involved with this project-slash-experiment-slash-art piece.

Are you up for rising up and staring right into the eyes of faith and grace? Because I have a project for you…

It’s quick turnaround (purposely) and will need full participation, if you are in.

Here’s how we are going to make this happen:

1. We will be curating a journal on COURAGE, with each entry being about that topic. Ideally, it should be something you do in less than 36 hours. Raw, honest, vulnerable, brave.
2. All entries must be handmade and physically mailed.
3. Send an email to ashley[at]potsc[dot]com and I will send you details, like where to mail your letter/art piece.
4. All entries must be mailed to the specified address postmarked no later than August 6th to be included.

We will share the end result with you once all entries are received… and will be curated in less than 36 hours.

Ready? Go!