Coasting with bread

This last week and weekend were filled with lots of activity and people I love and care for. I'm one of those folks who feels most alive and tuned in in the midst of planning and wrapping up of big (or what I think is big) events/opportunities.

Once I realized that all along what I'd been thinking was nervousness was actually excitement, I felt the ability to relax a bit more and just enjoy the adrenalin rush of seeing something come all together. The other side of that is though, that after its all said and done. I feel a bit sad.

Yes, I know that one can't live on the cusp of adrenalin everyday - that would be madness! But it's good to know why I feel the way I feel sometimes. Maybe, just maybe this insight will be helpful to someone else out there reading this too.

So in light of the weekend fundraiser being done (see the blog posts below)and the drumming workshop working out wonderfully; I'm allowing my Monday off to give me some space for coasting through feeling a little blue.

Image from Cartoon Stock

Coasting allows me to take the pressure off for a bit before I jump into the next thing to plan and work out and see come to fruition. Coasting like this allows me to press into the wind that is moving all around me as I ride down the big hill, through the dip at the bottom of the hill and begin to gain momentum for the hill ahead.

I'm coasting away from the life draining things of the past week:
I struggled with scheduling and rescheduling work calenders, tried to motivate someone that did not want to be anywhere close to being motivated, muddled with some not so nice treatment of myself and a bad spot of worry and loss for a friend, and plugged my ears to the nagging voice of self-doubt.

Image from Childrens Picturebooks

I'm coasting down the hill remembering:
I love the laughter provided by my students in youth group, I voiced that the kids in my group are an extended family to me - Mi familia!
While baking cookies in large quantities can be a BIG job, the conversation and connection of the project was good, as well as showing me the areas we need to work on in the future.
Life is fuller with connected relationships living and breathing in it.
It's so cool when you have time in a place to see those relationships develop - and makes you wonder just where they will go in the future.
I'm heading up the hill of this next week saying: "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.."

You can too!

SWB: Claustrophobia and clearings

Mary Lue shared her host post on business and rest for this weeks Sleeping with Bread Examen. Her words resonated with me in the fact that due to a significant staff change at my office, there is more work to be done and my plate is feeling fuller lately. There have been more meetings, and lots of talking and planning. For the most part, I've felt much more connected to people since I've become more involved in this way, but oddly when I'm done for the day or night - I find myself in need of some quiet. Maybe I'm still sorting and planning in the back of my mind, but silence (even my own) is something I find myself being more and more drawn too. It's like the extra noise, both internal and external, makes me feel claustrophobic . A few days after Christmas, I went into a game store with my son and was overwhelmed by all the noise and activity there. The store was tiny but filled with kids and their parents vying for their video game of choice. My head felt hot, my

Sunny and rainy day friends

There are two kinds of friends in the world: Sunny day friends and rainy day friends. This is a statement that my Mom used to remind me of when I was in the midst of drama or conflict with one school friend of another. There are lots of people that we define as friends, but they are really acquaintances. Two men were out hunting in the northern U.S. Suddenly one yelled and the other looked up to see a grizzly charging them. The first started to frantically put on his tennis shoes and his friend anxiously asked, "What are you doing? Don't you know you can't outrun a grizzly bear?" "I don't have to outrun a grizzly. I just have to outrun you!" This story is funny, but it does help define the distinct difference between a rainy day friend and a sunny day friend. The sunny-day-friend is more concerned with watching out for their own health and wellness, than their friends' wellbeing. On the other hand, a rainy day friend is willing to take risks, work fo

What Summer Camp Means to Me...

I was around six-years-old when I first went to sleep-away summer camp. At the time I lived in PA and the camp (through my church) was in Ohio. All school year, I attended Sunday School faithfully partially because regular attendance allowed my family scholarships to help with the cost of Summer Camp. Over the school year, I attended most Sunday's and by the end of the year, my little coupon book was full of stamps - providing me with a scholarship to attend a camp session. I provide this background on how I first got to go to camp, because it is an essential part of explaining what Summer Camp meant (and means) to me. Going away to Summer Camp gave me a whole new experience of community. The whole process of going to and attending was the first times I experienced, "it takes a village", personally. From the Sunday School Teachers who drove a sedan full of kids to Ohio, to the counselors and staff who supported new campers: through the first 48 hours of homesickness

Uphill idealist

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