*Since I’ve been out of practice with my writing and posting lately, I’m going to get my toes wet by re-visiting an old favorite practice: Five Minute Fridays. This is a group of writers who meet over the interwebs each week. The host provides one word that we each sit down and write about for five minutes, then post whatever it is we wrote. There is minimal editing allowed. It is a good way to stretch those writing muscles that may have atrophied a bit in the hustle and bustle of life.
Around our house we celebrated the end of summer with my six year old son leaping off his top bunk and fracturing his right foot. Then, if you can believe it, two weeks later my husband took a tumble down a flight of stairs at a job site and fractured two bones in his left ankle. So they both are maneuvering around in ortho boots. My little guy should heal on his own over the next few weeks, and we will see a surgeon next week to find out if my husband will require any hardware/surgery to resolve his breaks.
This all came as I had resolved to go back to work and begin my job hunt in earnest. I will still pursue a multitude of ideas and endeavors, but we do need to have some regular income coming in in the meantime, lest we deplete our retirement account completely! So, all that to say it’s been a little hectic around here. I’m excited to write something besides a schedule of doctor appointments or work on a resume! Without further ado..
Five Minute Friday: Listen
Listen here. Listen to me. Why won’t you just listen? Do you ever listen? We talk about others doing it quite a bit…at least I do. This year has been about learning how to do what I claim is so important.
This year I’ve learned to listen.
I feel like my entire year thus far has been an exercise in listening. An exercise in slowing down, being still, and listening to that small still inner voice that tells us what our heart longs for. Listening has been my lifeline. One of the challenges has been to trust that voice, to trust that what I’m hearing is honest, true, and not just me, making stories up. I think I’ve spent a lifetime ignoring this small voice deep inside me because it seemed so irrational, so flighty, so…..scary.
Yet, here I am, 9 months into a sabbatical that I had not planned but that I’ve so needed. I listened and I heard that I needed to do the things that I knew I was created for. I listened and I heard that it is neither selfish nor self-indulgent to do the very thing that I alone was created to do. I listened and I did not panic. I did not run. Even more miraculously my steadfast and incredible friend and life long partner has not panicked….or at least he hasn’t told me about it.
I’m learning, by listening, to trust myself. I’m learning that I can do the next right thing without knowing the next ten things that come after it. I’m trusting and I’m finding incredible beauty and blessing in this life. I’m reaping the rewards of years of toiling and struggling – because they taught me that success is not always easily defined and it is not always what the world may claim is success.
I lost my job in January and I’ve had (I would passionately argue) the most successful year thus far of my entire life. All because I learned to listen.
