Of Standing In One's Pot

Unfurl.

There is no amount of pushing, cajoling, denial, or even hard work that can release us from life's inevitable periods of waiting. Regardless of our drives, passions, ambitions or even needs, the world seems bent upon a period of patience. Gratification, recognition, success, healing, justice, always require a pregnant pause in their unfurling. The stuff of life seems to me not so different from my tomatoes. It would be easy for me to discount them, point out how little sun they get, how small they still seem even this early in the season, how one leans dangerously to one side in spite of its staking. I could declare, already, their foreseeable failure.

But I would be wrong. In spite of my insistence on their stationary stature, they are undeniably on the move. There is no ignoring their new stems or the sudden appearance of flowers, a sure sign of fruit to come. It is my impatience that sees their flaws. I want to make it happen sooner. I want to conjure tomato. But it is no longer in my hands. In the beginning, I had influence. I placed them carefully in their pots, fed them, and staked them up as they began to droop under heavy spring rains. Now though, I have, for a period, done all I can do. It is up to me now to stand in my pot, and wait.

  

How To Start Your Day

Wake.

I am not a particularly good sleeper. Though not an insomniac, I do not sleep easily or very much and am prone to nightmares and fitful sleep. Perhaps because of this, I often wake in a soft and vulnerable state, feeling the stresses and obligations of life press upon me. In order to shake myself loose from this and face my day I turn to morning ritual. Far better than half an hour of extra sleep is rising early to take time for myself to build a fire, have a cup of coffee outside with the birds, and stretch. The way I begin my day has everything to do with how I proceed through the rest of it. Taking time for yourself first thing in the morning is a reminder of your own importance and it allows you to gather your thoughts and plan a course of action. It is not selfish to take this time. Self care is what allows us to provide for others and give them what they need. 

A list of things to do to reinvent your morning:

Do Yoga

Meditate

Drink a cup of tea

Read

Eat breakfast

Make a list

Take a walk

Sit quietly

Play music, sing a song

Take a bath, not a shower

For more ways to transform your morning:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11639/5-life-changing-ways-to-start-your-day.html

Image:

http://therumpus.net/2009/01/morning-coffee-18/

What Can You Do?

Try.

These days I am struck by the remarkable ability of people to reinvent themselves. I marvel at the diversity of passages and achievements I see in the people around me, degrees earned, languages learned, families built, shifted, and rebuilt. I consider the possibility that at any given time what we are, who and how we are in the world can be and in fact is, just a product of our own storytelling, ambitions, and hopes. I am glad to witness the fallen rise and the unhappy cheer and cautioned by the stories of those with harder luck. I delight, too, in the more simple manifestations of this process, friends that master baking bread, trapeze, or a new instrument. I love these achievements, the investment of time and effort they represent and am inspired to inspect my own ambitions. I think it is important to investigate the edges of our talents and abilities. It keeps us fresh and child-like in the world. It also reminds us that we can face the larger changes and challenges, that all hope is never lost. You can be the person you wish to be today, right now. It may not last and you dreams may not all come true, but today, if you let it, your truth can set you free.

Image:

  http://howtochangemylife.org/how-to-change-my-life/?replytocom=1

Finding the Foresaken Self

Yellow.

Only in hindsight, at the age of 35, am I able to look back on the last ten years of my life and admit how very many of the habits, likes, and affectations I have adopted over the years have been for the sole purpose of pleasing someone else or trying to fit in with those around me. Today, I returned to the music that I had forsaken years ago to please a boyfriend that had very clear ideas on what was and what was not acceptable music. Regardless of the fact that he was right in many respects. I have missed these songs and sounds that defined other, earlier times of my life and am glad to have them back. I contemplate what other vestiges from other times I might turn loose, what things might be reclaimed. 

Listen to your music.

Or, listen to mine. Coldplay. Yellow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdVAqxNLXiw

Photograph Courtesy of:

www.RubyGoneWild.Com

Four Way Stop

Choice.

There is a prevalent theory in recovery and and weight loss programs concerning the formation of new habits and the role of familiar or default actions and circumstances that can best be summarized with the notion of an intersection.  This theory talks about the role of familiar places, times, and situations in our day to day lives that act at decision points or crucial moments in our behaviors.  Sometimes these crucial intersections are literal, do I turn towards home or the bar?  Sometimes they are more difficult to spot, do I let my temper get the better of me or take a deep breath?  Understanding where these crossroads are in our own interior lives, the moments where stress and weakness or desire converge, can help us to make fundamental changes to the way we live.  Framing our behaviors in this light may help us avoid temptation or recognize which moments are the most crucial to our success.  

Where are the critical intersections in your day?  Which way will you go?

Photograph Courtesy of:

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/traffic%20light?before=20