It was a damn good letter, after minute 50 in the podcast, though I'm not sure if it would be as impactful without listening to the whole podcast.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/243-oprah-shares-the-letter-from-glennon-that-freed-me/id1564530722?i=1000628652758
I went to my first cross country running race today. When I pulled in I thought I must be at the wrong spot, it looked like a festival with food trucks etc...
First my nephew ran a mile race. He doesn't regularly run (well beyond the way a 8 year old runs all the time playing), but because it was the home race I guess they had something for the elementary kids? I was grateful he had a different color shirt on than all the other kids so he was easy to spot. I also learned I need to dress to run at these races, unless you only want to see them go by once. If you want to see them multiple places on the course you need to be ready to move. Luckily, I'm usually dressed pretty movement friendly, however next time I will also wear running shoes.
My niece is really fast. She ran a 2 mile race and placed 4th (she missed 3rd by less than a second). When I got there I thought, "I'd rather watch her play soccer," which I haven't got to do yet this year because the games have been overlapping with my park and rec tennis. I also thought, "In a couple years she is going to have to choose between this and soccer, I hope she chooses soccer."
That was my thought before the race, after the race I thought,
"I hope she chooses what she loves."
#1 - I stopped doing anything with my photos (besides taking them) in 2016 when I filled up my last album. One thing I want to do while I'm single/have lots of time to myself is catch those up. I am surprised how much I am enjoying creating photo books. I have to be careful when I start working on it (like tonight when I gave myself an 8pm cut off, and that was 45 minutes ago). I am now caught up to middle of 2021. So I've made a lot of progress.
#2 - We had our first staff meeting for one of the jobs I do during the school year. One of the ice breaker questions was, "What was your favorite/most memorable vacation?" I didn't have to think long before writing my most recent trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (in 2020). I think everyone else in my group mentioned an international trip, and my director said to me, "Even more than Japan?"
"Yes," I replied, "even more than Japan."
It could be a painful memory, but so far it's still a treasured one.
Even more light would come in if I could replace that white door with one with a window, as a number of people in this complex had done. I told my Realtor, "In a year or so, when I think I've moved thru the majority of my grief, I'm going to get a new door to let in more light."
So it's been a year, and I was really HOPING to do this before fall/it gets cold. Someone came out to give me quotes in late July. He said it would take about a week and I still don't have them.
So maybe I have more grief to move thru this winter?
I don't know, but I called another place today and they are coming out to give me a quote on Tuesday. And I suppose either way, hopefully I'll get quotes from both now to make a more informed decision.
#4 - Grace is my word of the year. In the beginning of the year I definitely found a few examples of it, however sometimes I was wondering where to find it.
Lately it seems to be everywhere.
Today I was sitting outside eating and someone scooted up to a car. At first I thought it was a teenager just because of how she moved and the little scooter. She made some comment about what a pain it was but that it would be better when it's done. (They are redoing the main parking lot in my complex.) When she came back around I asked, "How long is the lot closed?"
"Til Sunday,"
"You are welcome to park in my spot until Sunday."
"What spot are you...do you park in your garage?"
"Yes."
Then she asked how long I lived here and I asked the same. She bought it in 2008. "Wow you've been here a while."
"Well, I got married..." and then a story began about how she got married and rented the condo out and was in an abusive marriage and then moved around a lot and her ex-husband followed her around and...she told me quite a bit for never speaking before. But the long story short was, I had wanted to offer my spot to someone in the other buildings. And I did offer it to the one person I know over there, but she was going to be out of town. So I just let it go. And then the universe said, "I am going to scoot another option right in front of your nose..."
#5 - "I am whispering in your ear Tammy...Imagine that the deepest, deepest, most soulful part of you is about to be increasingly welcome, welcome in collective group mind." Caroline W. Casey
