#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Yes, I am comfy in bed and don’t want to move when the alarm sounds, it’s 6:00 a.m., and I turn off the alarm and in only a few moments I am in the warm water, the quiet pool, swimming laps before the sun is lighting the mountains outside the window. This is a joy to wake into this effort. After my swim I’m ambivalent. I want also to walk in the fresh air and feel and see the morning mist rising from the lake, but I’m clean and comfy and warm and hungry, but the draw to outdoors, the chance to walk in this lovely environment is a strong pull, and I am out the door treading new paths, engaged with the woods, welcoming morning, this new day. Now, I am ready to work and greet people and share my vision and my ideas and put order into chaos and support others. We begin, and the day is challenging and invigorating in our lab. . . until, mid-afternoon, I begin to feel irritated, shut down, grumbled and stuck. I can’t find answers to questions being asked about my plan. A nap would be nice. We have a break. I’m tired and want to quit. But there is another exercise being asked of us, a blank paper in front of me with a chance to draw a plan, a map. Suddenly, my pen is on the paper moving - I see; I see! My pen rolls out without stopping my ideas, my answers. Here is a shift in my vision, a break-open. I choose all the different colors of pens and make a cheerful, inviting map that makes perfect sense to me and also excites me! This is a moment I want to savor from the day: not giving up, trusting the process, being open to refreshment and new possibilities. Again and again and again this lesson comes my way. I hope it always will.

All photos and text ©Kelly DuMar