Hello, my dears!
Oh, it's been a l-o-o-o-ng week. Taught a sweet little art camp at the Montessori school this week and it wore me right out.
Loved every minute of it, but I'm beat. Today, I'll be settling in with a couple of good library books (
this! and
this!) and a fresh batch of chocolate-chip cookies to revive myself.
Anyway, we ex-Californians had a wonderful treat last night. Fireflies! You wouldn't think little bugs could be so exciting, but we were
beside ourselves. Just like snow and autumn leaves, fireflies are not something you grow up with on the west coast. I never thought I'd see any in person--never, ever! But last night, there they were, little dots of light flittering over the grass. It brought tears to my eyes (admittedly, not
so tough to do these days, but, still). Little gifts, ever and always new. The beauty never ceases, my friends--just never. (The photo above is not mine--I wasn't prepared with my camera and I didn't want to miss it by taking pictures, anyway. It's a beauty, though, from
here.)
Of course, it got me thinking about the many gifts of our move across the country. There are many reasons that Californians love California, and chief among them is the weather. Always sunny, always warm, always practically perfect.
And always the same.
With that sameness comes a certain complacency, and maybe, although I didn't realize it at the time, the expectation that life will always be good. When your day is always sunny, breezy, and 77 degrees, you come to believe that it should be that way. Dangerous territory, indeed. As we all know, life is about change, good and difficult, and how we react to it. That is the challenge we are here to face, in my opinion. How to accept change, ours and eachother's, and how to respond to it with dignity, love, and compassion. There are no guarantees, and we should all check our feelings of entitlement at the proverbial door--no one comes out unscathed.
But, that's a blessing, I've learned. Because you know what? When nothing ever changes, you never experience the beauty of surprise. And it is very, very easy to forget that nothing stays forever. Life is seasons, we are seasons, and nothing, not the sun on your face or the job you have or the health you enjoy or the house you call home---is forever. Nothing. I don't ever, ever want to forget that again.
I've found that when you do forget this, along with all the other sad surprises life has in store for you, you fail to appreciate the ephemeral nature of it all--and the beauty that this impermanence imparts. We certainly get a glimpse of that as parents, where one day we are changing diapers and the next we are talking college. But it's everywhere, and we forget it, or deny it, at our own expense.
And I say this not only because we will inevitably be reminded of change and decay, but also because to miss it--to miss the short and hidden gifts of each season--is to deprive ourselves of the opportunity to be thankful. For this child, for this day, for this challenge, for this beauty. None of it will last, the good or the bad. Notice. Remember. Appreciate. Delight in it! And love.
That's the only thing left, after all, when we're gone. And it will be enough. It always is.
xoxox.
