Skip to main content

In the Moment

Here's the real truth - I'm in a blogging funk. I just don't feel like writing as much anymore. Partly because the computer is all the way downstairs and Scott's tablet is upstairs and if you've ever compared the two, well, it's like trying to walk a 5 K in somebody else's shoes.

Another part of it is that I have less to say and more to do. Blogging has been a wonderful outlet for a tongue-tied stutterer like myself and I've enjoyed it immensely over the past 4 years. But I noticed something tonight while I was at my daughter's jazz concert. I forgot to take the camera out for most of the concert and was caught up in the moment completely. My toes were tapping, my mouth was smiling, my hands were clapping and my attention was riveted. When I stopped trying to capture the moment in the frame of a camera lens, I captured more than just an image. My memory is sharp and includes emotions along with the mental photographs and sound bytes.


Sometimes when I'm in a moment of bizarro - Nancy World I start writing the blog post in my head before I've even finished living the experience. I realize afterward how much of the actual experience I missed because I was trying to articulate it before I organized it in my own mind to make sense. 

Although I found a lot of blog fodder and purposely allowed situations to play out for blog fodder (which I do not regret, much to my children's chagrin), the reason I began blogging and enjoyed it so much in the first place is that I allowed myself to be real, admit my weaknesses, process my shortcomings and discover that I am not alone. I have admitted many taboo thoughts and found camaraderie. I have discovered and articulated the ironies of my journey of life and found support. 

I love to tell my amusing stories that tickle my funny bone but more than that, I find the essence of myself when I force myself to sit down, reflect on a particular issue and type with my heart. These moments come in quiet, seemingly simple moments yet with such clarity if I am listening. One such moment occurred on Sunday when a speaker quoted a scripture I've heard hundreds of times: Psalms 46:10 - Be still and know that I am God. 

The clap of thunder was twofold. I am never still. I need to be still so I can hear. Of course my life is busy. I have hundreds of excuses for why I can't Be Still but they are only that - excuses. I can make time just like I can make time to exercise (but I don't) or take a shower (and I do) or figure out which smoke alarm keeps beeping and driving me to distraction. Which is really the crux of the matter - distraction. What is merely a distraction and what is truly part of my journey? I am fantastic at providing distractions for myself. As I previously admitted, these are my little coping mechanisms for not dealing with the tough stuff in my real life. I struggle with appropriately prioritizing and sitting still, waiting for direction. Instead I'll go get chickens, take on a part time job at a university, read a book, paint a room, or learn to garden.

What I have learned, however, is that eventually I find myself in between. I feel myself being pulled toward "between." My blogging days are not over but I feel the need to use more of my time being still. Being humble. Being teachable. Being more and doing less. Watching the world around me with more interest of learning, finding patterns specially designed to teach me something. Becoming more of the person I can be if I allowed myself to open up to God's greater plan than my own. My own plan consists mostly of doggy paddling and punting when it gets too hard. I might want to try out this idea of replacing fear with faith.

Just to illustrate my reticence, I have gotten up no less than 8 times in last paragraph to attend to some pressing issue rather than write what I felt I needed to write. On the upside, all the glasses are now in the sink. The tablet is charging. I put my shoes in the closet. I put the dog outside when she didn't want to go. I let her back in. I checked on the boys. Optimistically, I am on the right track. I resisted folding a load of laundry, putting another load in the washer and one in the dryer. I didn't clean the bathtub although my anxiety is jumping out of my skin seeing gray color at the bottom of the tub. Then I backslided and just turned on the warming light in the coop for the chicks. I need to play my Rook card with the chicks. They're still little-ish, you know.

Know that I am not gone. I'm still struggling with the basic needs pointed out by Maslov. I still hunger for the sense of belonging, building relationships while keeping myself safe. I compare myself with others because they have a public persona that exudes confidence and competence and I forget that we're all in this together. I'm still counting you as my friends even if I might be silent on this end on occasion. 

Know that I am actively working on being still and listening.



Comments

  1. Okay, I will accept this because it's for your greater good even though I will be despondant, despairing and downright depressed...

    Will you still pop over to Laurieville on FB and say hi every now and again?

    Okay. xoxo.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nancy, I will look so forward to your posts even if they are a little further apart.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nancy, you are both funny and truly honest in your writing. If you are in a blogging funk just roll with it. You are a quality woman my blog friend and I would gladly wait for quality ramblings over quantity for the sake of it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You're in a writing trough, your wave will come. Just keep watch, keep your ears open, and inspiration will come...like it does for me, when I read posts like yours. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I understand how you feel and you wrote it beautifully!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'll admit that I relate more to you than I even know possible! I actually have stopped reading blogs and still blogging a bit, but I was probably a little too obsessed with your blog before - and now I've had a good time actually living life instead of capturing it for blogging purposes (though I rarely blog with photos - it still is time consuming and takes over). Anyway I do love how you write - your way with words - it's just so beautiful and real to me. I hope you do keep blogging even if less for my selfish reasons of loving to read your writing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. you always say things just right and i love your blog - it allows me to see humor and insight in my own life. you make reality okay and me okay with it. I hope you still need the distraction to blog now and then. By the way, I'm signed up to receive your blog by email but it's not working anymore :( but when I come to the blogspot I can post comments so I guess it works out all right.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pioneer Trek

Utah was founded by the Mormon pioneers in 1847 after enduring unimaginable losses and seeking a place of peace. July 24th marks the anniversary that the first wagon trains arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Their numbers were greatly diminished by crossing the country in wagons and handcarts, dying of scurvy, tuberculous, malaria, starvation, unidentified fevers, and freezing to death. This, they found preferable to facing the extermination order put forth by Governor Boggs of Missouri. I believe this is the most courageous act of faith - to leave all they had that was familiar and travel the rough terrain in the unknown in search of a place where they could worship in peace. My daughters left this morning for a small re-creation of what the pioneers experienced. I don't love the idea since I know so many of the pioneers died but it is a way for many of the youth to connect to their ancestors and understand what many of the early members endured for their faith. The youth were asked...

How To Be A Dedicated Neurotic

Going through old files from graduate school, I found an invaluable pamphlet. Be a Dedicated Neurotic Remember the Past. . . and Regret it. Abhor the Present. Dread the Future. 1. Become preoccupied with the body, and make a long list of symptoms. Make them sound very clinical and professional... 2. BLAME your boss, your spouse, your partner, your neighbor, your kid. THEY are responsible for your miseries. 3. Feel trapped. You couldn't possibly declare your own independence without hurting someone's feelings. 4. Overeat. Rationalize and eat! Eat an insulated wall around yourself. Diet for a few days and say it doesn't work for you. 5. Self-pity. No matter what, feel sorry for yourself. Agonize over things about which no one cares. 6. Don't ever try. That way nobody can really accuse you of failure. You can always say, "But I could have done it." 7. Stress how shy you are. Insist that the world must come to you. You're special. 8. Your agg...

Flu

The flu has been making its way through our family.  The first to be hit was the 15 year old.  She was very, very angry.  At me.  She had been begging for the flu shot for the past three months.  I kept forgetting.  She got better but it's one more thing to discuss on her future therapist's couch. Today I picked up my 5 year old from school.  He told me about making valentine's for his friends and how he gave his valentine to his best friend, Chase.  Chase is the little boy who grabbed my scarf on my way to my car today, looked at me earnestly and yelled his telephone number to me so fast I couldn't process it then ran away. "Today I felt so sick." "Why didn't you call me to pick you up?" "I told Teacher but she didn't call you." "What did you say?" "I told her my head hurt and I felt dizzy." "What did she say?" "She told me I wasn't sick." I took mental note to talk to his teacher about c...