I’ve got to be honest with you---I’m over it.
This week was difficult to find joy. My children were in and out of school all week with illness. My husband is on the mend, but our house is still in disarray with his “office” in the dining room and his “bedroom” in my office. We’ve all been stuck in the house more than I like. I have not had the solitude and silence I crave to get creative work done. We were getting major landscaping done on the outside of our house so just parking my car and attempting to get inside was an issue. I had final edits on my Brian Doyle biography due this week. And then there was the news.
I know all my issues are problems of abundance as an old friend says. Nothing like the evil and sadness in the news this week.
But all this to say, I had a hard time grounding myself in joy.
It reminds me of when the pandemic hit. This is when I first attempted to ground myself in joy. And as you know, at that time, it was very difficult.
I would hold on to one image from the day. A cotton candy sunrise. My children laughing. My elderly neighbor cutting his brother’s hair out on the porch.
I was reminded of that this week as I drove home from the gym and I saw a Bald Eagle soaring above the telephone lines in the International District. This is not an area you normally see a bald eagle. It is extremely urban, about a mile from water either way, and he was flying low. Low enough that I could identify him by his white head. I watched him guide back and forth as I waited for the light to turn green. He spread his black wings wide and I could tell he was massive. He was absolutely majestic.
And I thought to myself, this is it. The image I will hold on to today. In my impatience and frustration, in my exhaustion and my irritation. I will remember there is a creature as spectacular as that bird and we share the same space here in Seattle.
I hope you will find one image, hold onto it and share it hear with us.
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I’ve updated all my current publications over on my website. See where I’ve been publishing. I hope to add some new reads and speaking gigs soon. Check it out.
I so appreciate your honest reflections on life. We too have been dealing with sickness this past week - Upstairs the kids had a stomach bug and downstairs Andy had COVID. I just wanted to run away! Today my joy was seeing the blue sky after a long, cold, snowy winter while we walked in our neighborhood. And again feeling the wonder of the fact that we live in such a beautiful place, with mountains all around us!
https://music.apple.com/us/album/drop-drop-slow-tears-arr-for-saxophone-and-vocal/1610169234?i=1610169242