Caboose poem from Barbara Kingsolver's "How to Give Thanks for a Broken Leg"
Step out as a brand new verb
moving
writing
listening
drawing
playing
wisening
breathing
reaching
illuminating
discovering
cycling
stretching
teaching
learning
resting
seeing
dreaming
keeping
being
We are more than a week into the holiday break, and I've entered the Quiet Zone.
Today I followed through on a decision I had made which was to use the "What's Your Word" cards my writing friend Kathy gave me as part of a gift exchange. There are 33 cards that ask questions that are supposed to lead you to your "word." I decided to go through the questions quickly and answer with one sentence each. After a warm-up and a jump start, there are several categories, each with a few related questions. Categories like Let Go, Be Me, Dream, Grow, Love, and Serve.
Answering these questions in a real "in the moment" fashion helped me get quickly to a couple important things happening with me: one has to do with physical strength, and the other has to do with how I want to spend my time going forward.
For many years I had a lot of different things going. A few years ago I cut back. I decided I wanted to spend most of my time focused on writing. And I did pretty well with that. I've completed several personal challenges, continue to write a poem a day, and my daily journaling, of course.
But something has shifted, and now there are other things that are calling for my time. One is the mandolin. I'm enjoying getting back into it focused just on ways to have fun and play with others. Second is my Music Polls page. I thoroughly enjoy what I'm doing with it, and others seem to like it, too. And third, a bit of art. I've committed to practicing some Zentangle, and that has been relaxing fun. No goals. Just do it.
One thing that has been a concern though, is what I feel is a physical weakening. It really started with the knotted up lat muscles in my side that sometimes made it painful to stand for any period of time, let alone do any walking. I've noticed a difference in my physical strength since I turned 65, and the lat situation has compounded it, keeping me from being as active as I need to be. I still do my daily yoga and stretching, but things like walks and weights and cycling have taken a back seat. Well, are fairly non-existent.
Answering the questions in the "What's Your Word" put this in the forefront. I realized as hard as it is, I have to find ways to start building strength.
So there is my word. STRENGTH
I started here...a return to Six Mile Cypress Slough, where I walked nearly two miles with nary a twinge from my crazy lats, and thorough enjoyment of the slough itself. Throughout the pandemic I knew the slough boardwalk was open, but I didn't go because of a simple thing like the bathrooms not being available. By the time I drive there, I usually need to use the restroom before wending my way along the boardwalk, which takes the visitor through pinewoods, a hardwood forest, a hammock, and more than a few ponds. But yesterday I learned the park was fully open, and I knew that was my first stop today.
My friend Kara shared with me her focus for the coming year: Peace, Energy, Calm. Add to that STRENGTH. And that is what I felt today, finally returning to the slough, where I don't think I've been in quite a long time. At least a year...maybe longer.
Entering the Quiet Zone is a natural part of this bridge of time between Christmas and New Years, a time I traditionally use to reflect and ground myself. All the right ingredients came together today. I intend to use them all to keep my STRENGTH building, despite any setbacks or frustrations. It is the most perfect and necessary thing for me right now.
STRENGTH -- Challenge Accepted!!!!
Caboose poem inspired by Joy Harjo's "First Morning"
Don't look back, keep going
The year landed as it did
Now you move ahead,
reaping what you've sown
Knowing better days are coming.
In the bleak December this
may seem far away
And we know the virus
is only increasing (sadly, unnecessarily)
But every morning is a
FIRST MORNING
The first morning to smile
The first morning to breathe
The first morning to write yourself into a new story.
It is always possible.
No clock ticking but your own self-imposed limitations.
Don't look back.
Keep going.
#108Weeks
December 20-26, 2020
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| Photo by Kara Vereen |
Take a line from someone else's poem and carry it forward
"It is necessary to come back and work in the world"
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| Jim and I * Christmas 2020 * Bunche Beach |
First line from January O'Neil's "Love Song for a Decommissioned Power Plant"
Thoughts inspired by Dolly Parton's song "I Still Believe"
Write this new space into being
a place where the dreams
of many can begin to come true.
Those of us who have believed
for a long time
in a better world.
Write of the possibility and the glow.
Write as if it will help us
all belong.
It is a guiding force:
compassion, empathy, real caring.
Fill the void
of the last few years.
Ignore the ignorance.
Write the possibility
and build the dream.
It is there
within reach.
Now.
The time is now.
Today's Caboose poem from Barbara Kingsolver's "How to Fly (in Ten Thousand Easy Lessons)"
You summited the mountain
or you didn't
and might have fallen short
You cared too much
and was left hurting
You made a wrong turn
and it took years to correct
You made too many mistakes
and lived the consequences
You opened your heart anyway
and found peace
You stopped thinking about failure
and placed your bet on LOVE
Caboose poem inspired by "Blackbirds" by Julie Cadwallader Staub
We live and move and have our being here,
in this curving and soaring world.
We do not always recognize our influence
or remember what we came here to teach.
It's happening always.
It's our state of being.
It's who we are
at the core
the heart
the things pushing us within,
whether we feel it or not.
Take your eyes to the sky and learn.
Remember yourself.
It's big.
It's bold.
It's ever-changing.
For a while I have been finding it difficult to get myself to this blog. I will write entire things out in my journal that I think I want ...
