I have moved many times in my life. I think this is my 17th time without counting dorm rooms or an apartment here or there. True, many of you have moved significantly more times than that, but I also know of others who grew up living in one home and now have raised their own family in that same home.
This partial move to St Paul is my third time to return to Minnesota: the first time was when I was a junior in high school; the next time was when my husband finished medical school in St Louis, and we returned to Minnesota for his residency. We stayed here, although in two different homes, until we moved to Shaker Heights, Ohio, when our son was a sophomore in high school and our daughter in college.
Full Circle
And now it is the third move back to Minnesota. Amazingly, our new home is almost exactly 5 blocks from our first house in St Paul--the home where we brought our baby girl home from the hospital.
We have come full circle.
True Confessions
I admit I have felt some melancholy as I anticipated this move. When we moved to this neighborhood the first time--we were 26 and about to have our first child--our whole life stretched out in front of us. And now most of our life is behind us. We are not done by any means. I know that and look forward to so much, but even so, I look back on many more years than I can imagine in front of me.
In a way, I feel as if we have been on a pilgrimage, a heroic journey, and now we return, although perhaps not in glory, and there certainly have been wounds and battles fought and losses along the way, some never to be recovered. However, I have a sense of having fulfilled our promises to each other, and now we can go home. Yes, there are still obstacles on the path to overcome, especially since the Wisconsin house has not sold, but we have experienced worse. We know ourselves better than we did in the past, so we can handle this time too. It's worth it.
Experiencing the Reason
The main part of this partial move occurred the day after Thanksgiving, and how delighted we were to see how easily and quickly the grands felt at home here. Almost immediately Peter and Maren discovered a closet on the half story level of the house where my office is now located. Forget using that as a closet for out-of season clothes, for it is now their clubhouse/fort. "GrandNan, do you have tape? Scissors? Paper?" Peter had brought his own crayons and started drawing pictures for the walls.
While Peter continued his decorating project, Maren curled up on the chaise in the sunporch to read, and neither of them were ready to leave with their parents when the time came. A few days later, they walked to The Little House, as Peter named it, from school, and my heart lifted as I saw them come up the walk. This is what this move is about.
I must admit I had not bonded with this house as quickly as Bruce did, for it has a teeny tiny kitchen and only a one car garage and a very small one at that. No fireplace, no front porch, no central air--all things on our list. However, this house has lots of charm, is in excellent condition, and the price was good. A key factor, however, is the location: three blocks away from the kids' school and another three from their house. We are in their loop of life!
Even though the desire to be back in St Paul has been present for a long time, I am not naive about life here being perfect. (For one thing it is SO COLD, as I write this.) I know I can't pick up all the pieces I left behind, and I know how necessary it is to create a new life here. Over the years I have grown weary of picking up, packing up, and settling in all over again. I get overwhelmed by all that needs to happen, especially since we have willingly and wisely made a decision to downsize in a major way, and by all that has not yet happened.
At the same time I am full of gratitude. I am so lucky to have lived in beautiful and interesting homes and places. I know how to make a house a home. Bruce and I do this well together and in fact, home seems to express the best of who we are in our lives together. This sweet home will be no exception. Indeed, this feels like a very creative time to me.
As I unpack yet another box and as the vision for this house becomes clearer, what is even clearer is the reason we are here.
When Maren and Peter come to the front door, I take a deep and easy breath and know I am truly home.
An Invitation
What has been your experience of coming full circle? Of returning home? What words of wisdom do you have for me? I would love to know what you learned.
The first Thursday of each month I offer you a meditation to use during the month. Here is the meditation for December.
A few days ago my husband and I were sitting in the cafe area of a book store, and we couldn't help but overhear the conversation of a man and a woman who were meeting each other for what seemed to be the first time. It seemed to me they were stretching to find commonality as they talked about how they each like to fix their coffee and the difficulties she had with a new dryer in the home she just purchased. They did share some information about their children--ages and work--but it was all quite superficial.
I noticed the man's body language. He kept bouncing one leg under the table. A nervous habit or perhaps just in that situation. I kept wanting to say to him, "Breathe. Take it easy. Pause. Be still."
Thoughts of Stillness
Seeing this man's discomfort, I wondered if he was familiar with Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God."
Being still allows us to know God in a deeper and wider way, but it also helps us know and be ourselves as well. Gunilla Norris writes, "When we make room for silence, we make room for ourselves." (I think substituting the word "stillness" for "silence" makes just as much sense.)
Here's a similar thought by Herman Hesse, "Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself."
How comforting--and amazing--to know that we each have the potential for stillness and in that stillness we become more of who we were created to be. And even more, as we practice stillness, our being as we move through the world can exhibit more of our authentic selves. Even on a first date!
Coming to Stillness
Often when I meditate or do centering prayer, the word I use to empty my head of thoughts and concerns, is "rest." Whispering that to myself immediately seems to relieve me of whatever pressure or expectations I am carrying. Rest, rest. When I am at rest, I can recognize the stillness within, a stillness waiting to support and nurture me.
How easy or difficult is it for you to access the stillness within? As you think about the month ahead, can you imagine how intentional moments of stillness might be helpful and bring you closer to the joy and the sacredness of the season? This month I invite you to use the following meditation, which incorporates Psalm 46:10, as a way to encounter stillness.
A Meditation of Stillness
I invite you to sit in a quiet place and close your eyes lightly, not tightly. Take a couple deep cleansing breaths and allow your body to relax into slow, even breathing.
In this quiet, sacred space you create for yourself say the following words, pausing in quiet reflection after each line.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
Be.
Be still.
Be still and know.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know that I am God.
Take a couple deep cleansing breaths, and when you are ready, open your eyes and return to this time and space.
Take a few minutes to note, perhaps in a journal or by whispering to yourself, what you felt, noticed, or learned during this brief time of meditation. What will you now bring into your life?
A Blessing
Even in these days busy, full days of December may you know the comfort and gifts of the stillness within. May the stillness you experience be reflected in the openness and love you bring to others.
An Invitation
What did you notice as you recited the words of stillness? How might you integrate stillness into your spiritual practice? As you move through December, I would welcome knowing if the practice makes a difference in your life. I invite your comments.
The idea for this post came to me on a day I was not feeling well. I felt heavy and cloudy, as if I were sleepwalking. I imagined myself as an ice cube tray full of water being carried from the faucet to the refrigerator. Please don't spill me. I wanted to slip myself into an envelope and be invisible. I wanted to be a button as it is slid into a loop where I would feel held, but not tightly, just securely.
I yearned for stillness.
I yearn for stillness.
Stillness in Nature
As we drove once again from St Paul to Madison, I could sense the earth at rest. This is not the time for action, but a time to become still, to lie fallow, to lie in wait. Only the day before had the wind pushed the remaining leaves on the trees to let go, and they gushed, rushed, whirled, creating liquid gold on city lawns and streets.
The next day the wind itself was still, reminding the earth that it is time to meditate. This was the stillness before we could even ask, "What now?" "What's next?"
I have felt in that gushing, rushing whirling state for the past months as we plowed our way through the many tasks of moving my father and then ourselves into a home in St Paul while still maintaining our Madison home. There have been so many times I have felt the way I do when walking a labyrinth, and I sense the entrance to the center is near. Much to my surprise, however, the path swings me far away from the center. The path loops around once again, for apparently it is not time yet to enter the center. It is not yet time to be in that place, to receive the gifts of being in the center.
My job as I loop around following the path is to remain balanced. To find the stillness within, even as I continue on the path.
The Need for Stillness
I have always liked Monday mornings, the feeling of starting anew, of plotting just how to accomplish everything that must be done. It all seems possible as I make my list. I feel in control--until the unexpected. What had looked like a spacious week, suddenly was filling in ways that at first glance seemed unproductive, ways that would take time away from crossing tasks off my list. Ok, I will access my flexible side, I told myself, whichever side that turns out to be. I was resigned, until I couldn't find my little notebook with my lists for the upcoming move--phone numbers and other notations I stored there, rather than in my head. Only Monday morning, and I had lost control.
What to do? At those times there is really nothing left to do, but move into stillness, and that's what I did.
I stretched out on the chaise in the den and took several deep breaths. I placed my hands, palms facing upwards on my lap, and closed my eyes. I let the stillness descend on me, and I opened to the stillness within. I could hear the action of the washer and dryer upstairs and also the construction noise outside. Yes, it is possible to be still, even when the world around you is not silent.
I noticed my breathing and could feel myself finding my own rhythm. I entered this time with no expectation of great insight or with any expectations. Not even with the hope that when I re-entered the agenda of the day I would miraculously find my little notebook. Sitting in stillness is good for its own sake.
Stillness When None is Available
Here it is the first week of December, and the desire for stillness seems totally incongruous with the busyness of the month. Whose idea was it anyway to cram so many holidays into such a short period of time? Wouldn't Halloween or Thanksgiving have been enough, but no, for those of us who celebrate Christmas, which is only 22 days away, these are busy, bustling times.
How does one find or create stillness in such busy days when the extras of holiday activities are added onto the normal everyday routines of life?
This is exactly the time when stillness is a necessity; when it is crucial, not just important, to carve out moments of stillness. It is time to push the pause button.
Take a deep breath wherever you are and whatever you are doing and invite calm and stillness to enter your body through every pore. Stand completely still, but breathe naturally for just a few seconds, longer if you can. Notice your body's gratitude for the brief time out.
Remember when your children were young and you sent them to their room for a "time out." Well, we are the ones who need a time out. Take one. Now.
Oh, and by the way, I did find my little "moving" notebook.
December's Meditation
The theme for this month's meditation, which I will post on Thursday, is "stillness." I hope it will help you find that still place within, even during these busy days.
An Invitation
What are your challenges with being still? Do you always need to be doing something? Do you know what it feels like to be still? If you practice stillness, what are the fruits? I invite your comments.
On the fourth Thursday of each month I will introduce you to someone whom I look up to as a spiritual friend and teacher. The focus of my questions is on their spiritual practices and what nurtures their deepening spirituality.
This month meet my current spiritual director, Carole Kretschman, whom I first met when I took a class about Centering Prayer at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison. Along with being a spiritual guide, Carole is a Benedictine Oblate. She graduated from the Spiritual Guidance Training Program in Racine, WI, and from the Spiritual Deepening for Global Transformation program at the Christine Center in Willard, WI. I am so grateful she has been willing to meet with me as one of her spiritual directees.
What do you identify as your main spiritual practice?
At this time my main spiritual practice is centering prayer/meditation for 20 minutes twice a day. I have been faithful to this practice since 2004. I do two different meditations: centering prayer and a meditation given to me at a retreat by Sadhguru, a guru from India. That meditation is a combination of breath work, chanting, and silence, preceded by a few yoga poses. Both centering prayer and this type of meditation have similar effects, bringing me back to that space within which is sacred.
You introduced me to both centering prayer and Sadhguru's meditation, and I have used each at various times, finding them both to be just the right practice at the right time. Please elaborate more about how this practice became integral to your spiritual life.
I longed for a meditation practice for at least 5 years. I first attended silent retreats about 20 years ago, and I noticed how whole and at peace I felt after being on retreat. I wanted to incorporate the practice into my daily life.
I was experiencing some health problems at the time, and I inherently knew that a meditation practice would be good for me. Of course, Thomas Keating says that centering prayer does not cure a thing, except maybe pride. I suspected my pride could use some work as well!
Just because I wanted to do this, however, did not translate into success. I tried starting with five to ten minutes a day with the intention of adding more time, but that technique did not work. I would start out with the best of intentions, just like a New Year's resolution, but was not successful. Finally, I came to the conclusion that just longing for a meditation practice was also a practice. I began to talk about the fact that no matter how hard I tried, I was unable to sustain a discipline. And yet, there was this growing desire within me.
So how did the jump for longing for a practice to practicing meditation itself happen?
In 2004 I attended a retreat in Ohio led by James Finley. On our drive home I sat next to a retired UCC minister. I told him how I wanted/desired to do this and yet, I was unable to envision arising before 5:00 a.m. since I was still working at the time. He turned to me and said, "Why don't you just do it on your days off?" I thought, "I could do that!"
An Ah-Ha moment!
Yes. The following Saturday I began, and I have been faithful to that practice ever since. When I told myself I did not have to do it everyday, I was able to do it every day. I think "grace" paid me a visit.
I love the paradox of not having to do it everyday leading to doing it everyday! What have been the fruits of this practice for you?
I have more energy and more creativity since adopting this practice. I am more in touch with my intuitive self. I feel my life's journey unfolding before me. It takes no effort. It just happens. And, I am more content to live in the question or the mystery of the moment and not need answers. I am more comfortable living in the "in between spaces."
Are there other practices that are or have been important to you?
I do free writing at least five days a week. This practice, which I do by hand and not on the computer, cleanses my soul. The thoughts come out of my head and onto paper. I find I have fewer traffic jams in my thinking and fewer compulsive thoughts.
Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention the spirituality of the 12 Steps. Being a member of 12 Step programs was and is key to my spiritual growth.
The 11th step is "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve my conscious contact with God as I understood God, praying only for the knowledge of God's will for me and the strength to carry it out." Working the steps helped me discover what of my faith tradition was helpful and what needed to be changed. It is a wonderful way to live. It encourages us to be honest with ourselves, to take the blinders off and appraise our role in relationships and life.
At a particularly difficult time of my life, when I was relatively new to recovery, I decided that I would pray the following for six weeks, kind of an experiment. I prayed for 1. guidance, 2. an open mind to receive it, and 3. the strength to carry it out. I did this twice a day for six weeks on my knees. I thought that it would be worth a try, and I would only lose 5 minutes a day, if it did not work. My life started changing almost immediately because I finally got out of the driver's seat.
I have so appreciated the wisdom based on the 12 Steps you have shared in our sessions. What hints do you have for someone developing a spiritual practice?
Be gentle with yourself. We are called to be who we are. Wherever you are on the continuum is perfect in God's eyes. You are loved deeply just as you are. If you long to be more and do more, be present to that. "Here I am, and I so want to have some kind of a spiritual practice and it is not happening." Just be present and give that part of yourself who longs for more a hug.
Any book titles or other information you care to share?
Lately, I have been reading and studying evolutionary consciousness, and I feel excitement about where we are going as a global community. In addition, here are some book titles that have supported me.
* Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on
Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion by Pema
Chodron
* In the Sanctuary of Women by Jan Richardson
* Reaching for Personal Freedom, the new Alan-on
workbook
Thank you, Carole, for sharing your insights about spiritual practices, especially the role of longing in the creation of spiritual practice in one's life. You are a blessing in my life, and I am so grateful you are an active and loving companion on my spiritual path.
An Invitation
What questions do you have for Carole? What are you longing for in your spiritual life? What experiences have you had adapting a spiritual practice in your life. Post your comments and questions.
Does your family normally pause and give thanks before the beginning of each meal? Have you ever noticed a family in a restaurant hold hands and bow their heads and say grace before digging into their burger and fries? I don't do that, but often I whisper a blessing as I am preparing a meal for us to eat on trays in the den while we watch HGTV or a movie.
Thanksgiving seems to call for an intentional grace, a way to acknowledge the blessings in our lives, as well as the blessings of the day.
A Sampler of Graces
Consider these:
Be present at our table, Lord.
Be here and everywhere adored.
Thy creatures bless and grant that we
May feast in fellowship with thee.
Lord, some people have food
and no friends.
Some people have friends and no food.
We thank you that on this night we have both.
Lord, of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of thanks and praise.
In the world's confusion
May we know the Grace of God.
Help us to do the things we should,
to be to others kind and good,
in all we do in work and play,
to grow more loving every day.
God is great, God is good.
Let us thank God for our food.
By God's hands we all are fed.
Give us Lord our daily bread.
Our hands we fold.
Our heads we bow.
For food and drink
We thank God now.
We give you thanks, O Lord,
For all things bright and good,
The beauty of your world,
The bounty of your world.
Gracious God,
Thank you for the food before us,
The friends among us,
The love between us,
and Your presence among us.
Creator of the universe, you give us this gift of food to flourish us and give us life. Bless this food that you have made and human hands have prepared. May it satisfy our hunger, and in sharing it together may we come closer to one another.
Lord, may our fellowship be the revelation of your presence and turn our daily bread into bread of life.
O Thou,
Sustainer of our body, heart, and soul
Bless all we receive
In thankfulness.
The ritual is One.
The food is One.
We who offer the food are One.
The fire of hunger is also One.
All action is One.
We who understand this are One.
I love this one often recited by our grandchildren. Hear their sweet voices as you read this:
We thank Thee Lord, for happy hearts,
For rain and sunny weather.
We thank Thee, Lord, for this our food,
And that we are together.
Amen!
Your tradition may be for each person to offer something for which they are grateful or someone may lift up a personal and original prayer, but whichever grace is recited at your Thanksgiving table, may it end with a resounding AMEN!
An Invitation
What are your memories of table graces? Do you have any favorites you wish to share? How does saying grace make a difference or does it? If saying grace is not your family's tradition, how do you think suggesting it would be received?
One of my spiritual practices is reading, using a meditative, devotional, or thought-provoking book as a guide for exploration and reflection. One Thursday a month I will share reflections with you from my current reading.
One of the best aspects of driving frequently between Madison and St Paul is listening to good radio. I am one of the millions of National Public Radio junkies and am grateful for my subscription to Sirius radio in my car, for even when I am in the "dead zone" around Tomah, WI, I can still listen to public radio! One of my favorite programs is On Being hosted by Krista Tippett. Originally, the program, which offers spacious conversation about religion, meaning, ethics and ideas, the big questions at the center of human life, was called Speaking of Faith. That is also the title of Tippett's first book, Speaking of Faith, Why Religion Matters and How to Talk About It.
Tippett is a journalist and former diplomat in West Germany and received the M.Div degree from Yale. A project with the Benedictines at St John's Abbey in Collegeville, MN, led her to imagine the kind of radio program that became a reality in Speaking the Faith. The book is a chance for Tippett to extend the radio conversations during which she primarily is the listener. "With the book, I show my hand...The conversations I have with my guests are powerfully revealing, and I felt that I had a kind of obligation to do this--to trace the line I ask my guests to trace between religious ideas and real life." (p. 4 of the Reader's Guide.)
Religion and Spirituality
One of the topics the book explores is the difference between religion and spirituality. For many people there is no difference, but Tippett describes religion as the "containers of faith" and spirituality as "faith's original impulse and essence." (pp. 173-174) She remarks, however, that she prefers not to be too rigid in that distinction.
Religious traditions are bearers of manifold beauty and
a weight of human reverence across time. They sustain
disciplines and rituals human beings crave as much as
they crave raw encounters with the divine. From our first
breath, we need structure and routine as deeply as we
delight in mystery. In some mysterious way, 'containing'
religion helps to unlock the sacred within us. It enables
us to participate in the human encounter with the divine
even when our own spirits are dry even in those times,
we can say the words and sing the songs and find courage
in them, borne along by the hope and trust and company
of others. p. 174
Metaphors for Religion and Spirituality
I like the idea of religion as a container, for it makes me aware of how not only what fills the container can change, but also the container itself can change. Sometimes the container is not big enough and what is in the container overflows and, in fact, cannot be contained. Sometimes what is in the container is shallow and is barely noticed, but the container can protect what remains.
Over the years of my spiritual journey my container has changed and continues to change. In fact, the container is not as important to me right now as it has been in the past. That is not to say that in the future the container, its shape and size, may not resume more importance or priority in my life. I suspect it will.
When I have given workshops on spiritual practices or led spiritual direction groups, I offer another metaphor for the difference between religion and spirituality. Think of religion as marriage and spirituality as love. It is possible for one to be in a marriage without love and and also for there to be love without marriage. For many people it is important to have both.
Tippett offers Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso's illustration of the difference between religion and spirituality. Sasso says Moses had a direct encounter with God on Mount Sinai and that was a spiritual experience, but the Ten Commandments he received through that experience are religion.
One Definition of Spirituality
I think the essence of spirituality is the way I experience the connection to the sacred aspect of life, the spirit of life. That connection takes a variety of forms:
* The connection to our own inner, creative core,
* The connection to other people,
* The connection to nature,
* The connection to a greater power, the Divine, God,
* Or any combination of the above.
How do you define spirituality?
Ongoing Conversations
Thanks to Tippett's "conversation partners" on the radio program, as well as those from the past she has read and studied, she has learned that "everyone has relevant observations to make about the nature of God and ultimate things--that the raw material of our lives is stuff of which we construct our sensibility of meaning and purpose in this life, of how the divine intersects or interacts with our lives, of what it means to be human...I believe that we have too often diminished and narrowed the parameters of this quest We've made it heady or emotional and neglected to take seriously the flawed, mundane physicality, the mess as well as the mystery, of the raw materials with which we are dealing." p.127
Sometimes when I am asked what I do, and I say I am a spiritual director, I may hear the response, "Well, I am spiritual, but I'm not religious." I have yet to hear "I am religious, but not spiritual," but does that mean one is naturally spiritual if one is religious?
While reading Speaking the Faith that question became a conversation not only with Tippett, but also about or with many of my spiritual heroes, such as Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Karen Armstrong, Elie Weisel, Joan Chittister, Parker Palmer, Roberta Bondi, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rachel Naomi Remen, who figure in Tippett's own spiritual journey. And in these conversations come ongoing opportunities to explore my beliefs about religion and spirituality and their roles in my life.
An Invitation
What do you think about the difference between religion and spirituality? Do you think there is a difference? How has the dynamic between religion and spirituality been alive in your life?
I look forward to your comments.
Before moving Dad into his new apartment in a senior living facility, he told me he didn't go to church one Sunday because he had not fallen asleep until 3:00 A.M. So many thoughts about his upcoming move were racing through his head. He has never been a sound sleeper, so I was not surprised, but who wouldn't be making lists in one's head with such a major change days away?
I empathize.
Falling asleep is generally not my problem, although I, too, lately have had a hard time emptying my mind and setting aside today and tomorrow. The more common problem, however, is returning to sleep after the inevitable bathroom trip around 3 in the morning.
When I was staying at the St Paul apartment by myself not long ago, I couldn't return to sleep. Therefore, I decided I might as well turn on the light and write. I was full of lists, questions, plans, visions of what was to come. Behind all those pragmatic issues were anxieties and doubts, as well as desires to be on the other side of all that had to be done.
The Moving Theme
Here's what was racing through my head.
1. Dad's move to his apartment.
2. Our move out of the St Paul apartment, which will happen Thanksgiving week.
3. Our move from the apartment into a house in St Paul. Closing is the day before Thanksgiving.
4. The beginnings of a move from our Madison home to the St Paul. No, we haven't sold that house yet, but we hope by buying this house we give a mighty signal to the Universe, "We are serious. We are ready."
5. The dispersal and emptying of Dad's house of all that remains, in order to put the house on the market after the first of the year. That's a lot of possessions. Trust me, a lot! Have you started getting rid of all you have accumulated over the years yet? Don't wait another minute, even if you are reading this at 3:00 A.M.
6. The dispersal of what we can't use in the St Paul house, which our grandson Peter calls The Little House and is considerably smaller than our present house--an intentional choice. But what do we do with all the excess to accomplish this downsizing goal?
7. The move to a small apartment in Madison once the house is sold, since Bruce will continue to work at hospice four days a week.
No wonder I couldn't sleep!
Time to Pause and Reflect
If I were at Dad's, I could have packed another box or two, but I wasn't there, and frankly, there was a more important task at hand: the task of breathing myself into letting go, of finding peace with where I was at that very minute, of treating my body to restorative, necessary sleep, of remembering Julian of Norwich's mantra, "All will be well."
One of the tasks was to remind myself of my own lecture -- take one step at a time -- and to remember that I am not taking these steps by myself.
At that moment the middle of the night was the time offered, a clearing the space time to remember the reasons for all these moves; the Big Picture that continues to feel right. In the quiet of night before morning light was the perfect moment to give thanks for all the blessings in my life, including the tangible treasures that were yet to be packed and moved from one place to another.
I was awake in that early morning hour in part, I think, because I had not carved out the time in the day for my usual routine of meditation, study, and writing. My body and my heart knew that and so gave me a signal to wake up. Wake up, so you can rest. A reminder that we each truly know what we need.
Geof's Example
I recall a story about our son Geof when he was 4 years old. His normal routine when I took him to his day care center in the morning was to join a group of kids and enter into play. Suddenly, he changed that routine and went off by himself instead to read or play quietly with a puzzle. His day care teachers were concerned and wondered if something was going on at home. Of course, I worried about that all day at work without coming up with a reason, until we went home that afternoon.
His normal at home routine was to go play quietly by himself till dinner, but winter was becoming spring, and his buddies were waiting for him to play outside. I realized Geof had figured out what he needed to do to get the quiet time he needed. He adjusted his day, his normal routine, to accommodate his needs. Such a smart kid--and I was delighted to explain the change to his teachers the next day.
Back to Sleep
I know I need time to reflect, to process, to empty out, to sit quietly in reverence and during the days of my Dad's move, 3 o'clock in the morning, although not ideal, was the available time. I needed my daytime energy, for each day was impossibly full, but it was still important to be alert for ways I could adjust and create that space for myself. That will be necessary for quite some time, I suspect, for moving is the ongoing theme in my life.
After writing for awhile, taking time to breathe, to pause and give thanks, I turned out the light and slept soundly till the alarm went off later in the morning.
An Invitation
In what ways is the theme of moving showing up in your life?
What are your 3 o'clock thoughts?
In what ways do you need to adjust in order to give your body, mind, and spirit what you most need? I invite you to comment.
