Cloudy With a Chance of Faith

How believing in something bigger can keep your brain slightly floatier and significantly less flammable.

Author

Jason Hall
May 01, 2025

🦆 CHILL THE DUCK OUT

Volume 005: Cloudy With a Chance of Faith

✨ Cold Open

🎵 When that love comes down without devotion
Well, it takes a strong man, baby
But I'm showing you the door
I gotta have faith… 🎵

Oh, hey. I was just jamming out to Limp Bizkit’s version of the song Faith (maybe I’m aging myself). Apologizes to anyone who prefers the George Michael version (now maybe I’m aging you).

If you’re feeling left out and don’t know the song, go listen to either version - it’s fun.

Anywho, onto today’s newsletter!

My grandma had the kind of faith you could feel before you even opened the front door. (And you definitely couldn’t say a bad word in her kitchen without feeling the invisible side-eye of seventeen saints.)

Me? My dedication’s a little... fuzzier. I’m a professional overthinker, a card-carrying worrier, and someone who absolutely needs GPS to find inner peace some days.
But I carry her faith anyway - tucked somewhere between my stubborn optimism and my extremely questionable cake baking skills.

As my mom likes to say:

“You’ve always lived with your head in the clouds.”

Honestly? She’s right.
But somehow, thanks to a little inherited faith, I’ve managed to float up there without getting totally fried by the sun.

This week, we’re talking about faith - not the preachy, perfect kind - but the simple, stubborn belief that something good is still possible... even if you can’t always see it yet.

🍟 This Week’s Happytizer

Believe in something today.
Doesn’t have to be big. Doesn’t have to be fancy.

Believe in:

  • The possibility of a good coffee

  • The resilience of your own weird little heart

  • The fact that the right thing might already be on its way (even if it’s late, and covered in cat hair)

Tiny faith is still faith.

🧠 The Science Bit

Here’s why believing in something bigger actually works for your brain:

  • Studies show that people with a strong sense of meaning or purpose experience better emotional regulation, lower cortisol levels, and higher levels of resilience, even during really tough times.

  • Believing in something outside yourself (whether it’s hope, kindness, karma, or cosmic duct tape) activates the brain’s reward and emotion centers, creating feelings of safety and motivation.

  • Faith (in any form) buffers against burnout by reminding you that bad days aren’t forever and you’re not carrying the whole damn sky by yourself.

And no - you don’t have to be perfect at it. Wobbly faith still counts. So does stubborn, half-muttered, "okay universe, I trust you... kinda."

TL;DR: Believing in something bigger gives your brain a parachute for the hard days - and a slingshot for the good ones.

🎯 Micro-Challenge: Write a "Cloud Note"

Write a note to yourself from the version of you who still believes.

It can be:

  • One sentence.

  • One scribbled sticky note.

  • One whispered reminder while looking at the sky.

Examples:

  • “You’re not stuck. You’re building momentum.”

  • “Good things are allowed to find you.”

  • “It’s okay to float sometimes. It’s still progress.”

Then put it somewhere you’ll accidentally stumble across it - like magic.

🎉 Unsolicited Joy of the Week

Somewhere in an office in Springfield, Missouri, a stealth kindness ninja started leaving anonymous uplifting notes on their coworkers’ desks.

No big announcements. No grand reveals. Just small bursts of “you’re doing great” energy sneaked onto coffee-stained workstations and Monday mood piles.

Pretty soon, the notes spread - along with a noticeable uptick in smiles, emotional support staplers, and the kind of faith in humanity you usually only get from dog videos.

Proof that a little anonymous encouragement can leave a bigger mark than you think — especially on days when you really need it.

💬 Tell me what you still believe in

Good coffee? Dog magic? The power of an aggressively cozy blanket? I want to know.

Oh, and if this brought you even 1% more chill, forward it to a friend…
or I’ll start mailing you clouds I drew with glitter glue and way too much emotional sincerity.

🫶 Duckin’ Done

That’s Volume 005.
Here’s to small faith, soft hope, floaty optimism, and realizing that living with your head in the clouds isn’t reckless - it’s revolutionary (thanks for always supporting this about me, Mom).

Until next time: breathe deep, look up, and chill the duck out.

— Jason
Editor-in-Chill 🦆