change your mind...

"I am an excitable person who only understands life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings are much stronger as reason. I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I can not transform into something marvelous, I let go. Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls."   

~ Anaïs Nin 

I'm a big fan of change.

If something isn't moving right it my life, a job, a town, a relationship, I make a change...exit quietly stage left and move on to the next role.

A year ago, when my son was 13, he decided to make a change in his life, thereby altering mine, and moved to Seattle to live with his father.

It wasn't entirely unexpected, it was just sooner than I would have chosen. I knew one day my child would grow up, move on and make a life of his own, but I thought I had a few more years before having to deal with it. I wanted more time.

It's been rough. ups and downs. lots of tears. I miss him every day that he's not with me. but I've had to adjust to it.

I made some changes of my own, in order to try to make my life "right" again. I moved (several times, trying to find what felt right to me) and landed, happily, back in Louisville, Kentucky - it's the first place that ever really felt like "home" to me...coming back was like stepping into an old photograph, a happy memory.

So, here I am. Getting my feet back under my weight. Discovering how hollow that empty nest can sometimes feel, and cherishing the moments I get to spend with my son during those not-quite-long-enough visits.

I'm adapting, simply because that is what I do. I'm pliable, but tough. stubborn. strong-willed. determined.

but man! I miss my kid when he's not here. 

Prompt #69: How pliable are you? do you embrace change or resist it? do you adapt easily, or fight tooth and nail when change invites itself in?

Balance Beam...

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." ~ Albert Einstein 

I'm a big fan of balance. 
finding balance.
remaining balanced. 

balance is key. 

especially when dealing with changes.
there have been a lot of big changes this year.  
some have come from outside my bubble, some I've thrust upon myself.  
I made a tough decision and said farewell to people who are precious to me. 

I believe great new adventures are ahead. new experiences. new opportunities. 

I love change. I hate goodbyes. 
but I can't have one without the other.

balance. 


prompt #28: How do you maintain balance? 

Aspire to great things...

If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.  ~Vincent Van Gogh

I have a stubborn streak.

Anyone who knows me will attest to this, and most likely follow it with "Uh, yah, that's an understatement!"

I'm not ashamed of my stubbornness, it has carried me far.
The best way to get me to do something is to imply that it cannot be done,
or rather, that I cannot do it...

WATCH ME!

I like a challenge.

People are like stained-glass windows.  They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.  ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

I loathe muddling.
I detest those brief moments of darkness when I feel like I may not be shining at my brightest...

and I will change like the seasons if things are not moving in a direction I desire.

I don't fear change, nor the uncertainty that moves in like a slow fog...the thing I fear is mediocrity.

I prefer to dream big. I prefer to be extraordinary.

prompt #25 - What is your greatest motivator? How do you face challenges? Do you shy away from the unknown?

Life's Like a Jump rope...

Blue October - Jump Rope

This song has the ability to put me in a great mood. It's just so (as my friend Kelsey would say) "ding-dang" cheery! How can you not smile when you hear a bunch of kids singing along with Blue October...yaaaaaaahhhhhh!

This year has been a big year for change and challenge. Me, my friends, loved ones...we've all had a multitude of things to absorb, adjust to, deal with.

BIG changes.
life-altering changes.
permanent changes.
tear-inducing changes.
and some happy-making changes.

Some people fight change.
Some people roll with it.
Some people ignore it; deny that it's happening.
Some people just sit back and wait for the clouds to roll away.

There is no right or wrong in it. we do what we do. we ride the roller coaster, jump through life's hoops, and wait for our chance to stop and take a breath now and then.

Life is...
tragic and beautiful, 
incredible and heartbreaking,
balanced and topsy-turvy,
up and down...
like a jump rope.

prompt #24 - How do you react to change? Are you a go-with-the-flow-er or a fight-it-all-the-way-er?
Or pick a big change that you've dealt with and write about how you powered through it. 

Spare Change...

I know people who walk through life terrified of change...I happen to be a big fan of change. I welcome it, relish in it, thrive on the new and different...

Sometimes change just happens. It can be sad, certainly, but it can also open unexpected doors. Change occurs due to choices we make, or it can simply be brought about by force of will. There are small changes like painting a room or redecorating; big changes like a move across country or switching careers. And of course, there are the changes we bring about in ourselves and the way we look at the world, how we deal with certain circumstances, and how we move forward.

This week write about change. Whether you embrace it or fear it. How you deal with change. Do you fear leaving your comfort zone and stepping outside your boundaries? Or do you think that the unexpected is part of the great adventure?

Partly Stormy...(Monday - 6/14/10)

I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Storms.  

Emotional storms; literal storms. We all have to drive through them at times. They can be so big and blinding you quite literally have to pull of the road until it passes.  

storms are frightening; calming, cleansing; downpour, destructive, renewing. We brave through those dark hours, white-knuckled, and move on to the next challenge. Hopefully, we are changed for the better...made stronger, valiant, unafraid; electrified.

This week, write about something that changed you. An event, big or little. An upheaval, a decision - something that altered your path and took you down a new road. The challenges encountered - the storms weathered.   


 

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