We’ve been away for a few days and time to write has not come easy. To get back on track, I am deciding to combine the last three prompts in my post today, hoping to just write freely and see what develops…
A good day includes a blank page and a connection.
(Good days also include honest moments, acceptance of what is, and unexpected kindnesses. Thanks to all who inadvertently and unknowingly have given these gifts to me to turn my bad days into great ones.)
When I say blank page, it means when I can get up in the morning feeling optimistic about the day ahead of me. It’s a feeling of forgiveness and kindness aimed at myself. Yesterday I may have done things or said things that I wish I hadn’t but if I can begin the next day with this “blank page” feeling, I can begin the day on a good note. There is nothing written on the page that needs to be crossed out, edited, or worked through; it is blank and ready to be filled with great intentions and a willingness to try again.
It is also a good day when I can fill a blank page with words: writing on this blog, in my journal, or content for Sense of Story. It’s when I remember that writing here is meant for me to document, to reflect, to share. Gwynyth expressed the purpose of it all so eloquently in a recent blog post on reading/writing blogs. Reading her post was just what I needed as I took a break from blogging because I questioned the purpose of it. She said, “We could instead choose to see it as inspiration; to find the beautiful moments in our own days.” Sometimes writing here helps me to see that every day may not a good day but there is ALWAYS a moment of beauty that I can cling to until the next day, a brand new blank page.
A good day often has a moment of connection. Homeschooling gives so many opportunities of connection. During #3’s Old Testament blocks, I see connections that happen. (For more on why Old Testament stories are told during Grade 3, read here and here.) She is in the midst of the “Nine-Year Change” – a period of questioning and isolation. The stories are working through her. I see it when she wants to hear more, and when she tells me that she needs a moment to think about what just happened in the story. The struggle between good and evil. The fall from grace. A connection to God, something higher.
A good day is when I can make a connection. I finally connected the dots and solved the mystery on how to get #4 in a good mood before her early outdoor program each week. Normally she has no problem getting herself changed and ready for the day. It’s this one day that she can’t do it without making a fuss. This morning I woke her up gently. I stroked her hair. I whispered our morning verse in her ear. I told her that for this morning I would help her change, set up her breakfast, and pack her snacks. She can do all these things except she hasn’t been able to without being extremely irritable on this one day of the week. I waited for her to finish up in the bathroom and we held hands down the stairs. She sat and ate with a smile and immediately put on her winter gear without a stomp or a grumble. She had an amazing day.
A blank page and a connection of dots. A good day is within my grasp if I can remember those two things. Let the children colour the page with mess and humour. Make the random less random. See every experience as a stepping stone to another. Make each day an adventure to find that missing puzzle piece. Step back and see what is created when you join the points of light in the day. Let the moment write the story of the day.
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Trying to survive the February blues by getting my write on with writealm:
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