December 29, 2009
This particular afternoon found me in random of all random places - a foreign shower , staring at an Alberto V05 bottle, contemplating my life, and wondering who in the heck Alberto is, and if he knew that I was using his shampoo at 1:40 in the afternoon, days after Christmas 2009. And if you know me, you probably know that I'm not normally hanging out with Alberto in the shower, and instead rocking something a little more user friendly and natural...well, I digress from here. The geographical location wasn't someplace altogether foreign, that I woke to find myself in. 'Twas a planned visit indeed. Iowa. Freezing cold. Blizzards. Car battery dying. Seeing family I haven't seen in years. Discovering sleep, and falling in love with it. Reminiscing, laughing. Learning that some hunters out here use the hooves of animals as coat racks (who knew??!). Sipping coffee and chatting with Grandma. This has been Christmas 2009. Chock full of interesting moments. Perhaps this week and a half in the perpetual tundra seems like an out-of-body-experience, because I have no framework for being here, and all this lazing about and plowing through snow is worlds away from my day-in and day-out work world in the Fres.
And this oh-so-apt title above, is less about returning from Iowa to California, and more about a return to writing again (my words have not graced the e-page since September!), and more about a return to intentionality and simplicity and a slower pace in life. What. In. The. Heck. Does it mean to sloooowww down, and go through life at such a pace, that your head has time to sort and think, your heart has time to feel, your hands have time to do and create, and your body has time to properly sleep? Those may seem like basic questions, but yeehaw if I have had good answers and actions to them in these last few months. Besides, I have highly neglected my entrepreneurial collage projects (only somewhat kidding, ha!!), and my mad black bean soup making skills are rusty and need to be worked on. ;) There are so many daily things/and tending to my soul, that I'm missing out on because I'm doing too many "oh, it's an important function/good cause/blah blah blah" nights out! I'm not committing to a life of tutelage under Bette or Martha...but you get my drift.
We drove, or should I say inched, "into town" today, on icy roads, and through miles upon miles of white blankets and fog, presumably covered up farmland. There was not a whole lot of visual creativity or change for miles....just white, WHITE, darker white, lighter white, and white-ish fog! But somehow what felt boring and plain at first, became beautifully simplistic and idyllic. Farm life - perfect chance to slow down and observe farm oddities I am not used to coming into contact with. While we drove today, many a pheasant almost met their demise, as the hurried off the slick snow, and away from their team huddle in the middle of the road. And strangely enough, I was duly impressed with the fact that I had just seen a school of pheasants in the snow today, and probably no one else I know was experiencing that same thing at that same moment. I am experiencing more "only in a small town" moments than I can recall, care to relay, or knew I'd stumble upon. But all of this good Christmas lazing about in 20 below weather, has forced my heart and head to slow, to re-center, to create and find more peace, and to take a deep breath.
Here's to renewed energy in 2010! To be mindful of what I choose to give my time to...to pick the right rewarding and important things to be involved in...knowing that a great thing at the wrong time, isn't necessarily a great thing. Here's to purposeful and intentional creativity and dreaming...And for whoever you may be, picking over this tiny essay of sorts...may you find that deep peace and intentional slow, as you start a new season in the New Year.
I'm flying back (weather-permitting) this weekend, ready to collage, make soup, attend to my soul, and start the New Year out at a better pace!!
Cheers.
