Skip to main content

The Road Less Travelled

It's been a hard, long-ass winter.  There really is no sugar coating it.  Even people who like winter--who ski and snowboard and generally enjoy outdoor activities (me NOT being one of them) have complained about the cold...and the snow...and the slush...and the ice.

Daily, the news is peppered with accounts of multicar pile ups; even one clip of someone being thrown from their car in a slush inspired spin, captured by dash cam by the following car.  Buckle up people.

It's been something like 35 consecutive days at sub-zero temperatures...and the majority of it close to minus 30 Celsius with the wind chill...  Freeze your face off cold.

My three dogs will venture as far as the back deck to "do their business" which makes for a lovely view in the morning.  Dog poop, yellow snow and bird seed.  Ah what a thaw THAT will be.

But this morning...a quiet Sunday, the family all still asleep, I am mesmerized by another view out the window. 

The sun is shining somewhere, though I can't see it out my west facing patio doors, and the sky is a light blue, smudged with white.  The filtered sun makes everything seem softer today and what has captured my attention is the snow.

Somehow, this wispy whiteness in the blue sky is making snow!

 
Large, fluffy, cotton candy flakes that slowly drift to cover up my doggy doo.  It's actually possible, to follow their lazy descent all the way to the ground once you focus on one. It's a bit hypnotizing and watching them tumble down feels a bit like a message today.
 
1. Relax --you will get there in your own unique way, in your own unique time.
 
2. Forces of nature cannot be denied - try to find the beauty in any situation.  Why would you want to fuel a sense of dissatisfaction, misery and anger at something that is supposed to be happening in your life right now.
 
3. It is the little things that matter.  One snowflake at a time, one step at a time, things can change and what once looked like crap (literally) can be transformed. 
 
4. On the flip side of #3....just because you layer something pretty on top of something ugly doesn't mean it is not there.  You are going to have to face it sooner or later.  Deal with it or it is going to be a stinky mess if you let it sit..and it will just get bigger and take more time to fix.
 
5. What is going on outside can help on the inside.  Taking the time to find something to appreciate every, single, day---finding beauty in the ugly---peace in a long haul journey--- ignites your heart and soul. 
 
When you look for the good, you can find it.  The more you look, the more you will find.
 
I think the problem lies in forgetting what joy looks like.  So even when it is
right in front of us....the path to peace and happiness, we don't even see it --overgrown with weeds--it is practically invisible.
 
Ah, but the well travelled road of misery, complaining, fear and anger stands out because it is so frequently used.
 
Taking the overgrown path is hard at first.  But the more you do it, the clearer the path will be and the easier it will be to walk.  For today, reject the negative path and take the road less travelled.
 
I'll be there too. 





Labels:

Comments

  1. maymay4 March 2015 at 22:56

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wowgold2u18 March 2015 at 19:41

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mind the Gap

I have been browsing my writing. Just a few samples here and there. Noting the gaps--like the big one where I posted on the eve of 2020 not knowing a global pandemic would shut down the world and then didn't post again until just last week. Feels like that would have been a good time to write. During a pandemic.  Write about survival mode, collecting oldest and his gf from their rental to camp out in our basement bedroom for five months, the middle home as college was closed and R and I getting a week to figure out how to be online college instructors. There were days of washing groceries, yelling at my mom and step-dad to get their asses home from Florida before the boarder closed and scouring the internet for toilet paper and masks. It was exhausting and scary and bitterness flowed unhampered at every #qualitytimewiththekiddos" posting of crafts and puzzles and tiktok dances from those who found themselves at home, not working.  It was all hands on deck at our place wi...
Post a Comment
There is more good stuff--keep reading»

Guidepost #7 Cultivating Play and Rest

The sky, dark blue fading to purple, then  pink and orange---in this instant --- it is hard to tell if it is the morning or night.  Perhaps in contradiction to the title, I am up early to write.  This is my playtime.  Writing is something that brings me both joy and a sense of accomplishment.  The Adult Day Treatment Program was my what kept me anchored to reality during the early months of my collapse.  Learning about anxiety, medications, depression, relaxation all made sense tome--had value--and could be immediately applied to my situation.  I took copious notes, I participated in class, I reflected, I did what I know best---see problem---tackle problem. What was difficult for me, was understanding the value of our "recreation" hour (a.k.a. crafts or games). I remember feeling a bit like I was in a movie or on some gag reel and I was the only one not in on the joke as people moved to pick up half painted wooden b...
Post a Comment
There is more good stuff--keep reading»

Keeping Afloat in Darkness - When Robin Williams is Gone

A few weeks ago Robin Williams was everywhere you looked. People were desperate for details; to find the one thing that assured them that his situation was so different from theirs that they are safe; that it could never be them. But if you suffer from depression, the suicide of such a brilliant, successful, individual; part of our lives for so many years and responsible for so many laughs; looks like a leak in your boat. A friend asked me, "Ok but no one knows what the future holds.  Could he not see that?" For someone drowning in the dark spiral of depression, there is no future. There is only now. There is only nothing.  The boat is gone.  You are under. It is not about your spouse or your friends or your kids or career or fans or dogs or anything.  When the darkness squeezes it is all about now.  And now is nothing.  It is bleak and empty and so dark, you cannot see a bottom, or edges or surface ---just darkness. "Some...
4 comments
There is more good stuff--keep reading»