Over the past year, I’ve been keeping a ton of personal and work plates spinning. That’s meant that, to a large degree, spontaneity has gone out the window. To deviate from the calendar would mean that crucial pieces necessary to take next steps don’t move, so the calendar has been my guide.
But not too long ago, I came over to my desk to discover this, a gift from my husband:
Such little, silly things, those googly eyes.
I smiled.
The cost of interference
It is difficult sometimes, under the weight of many valuable obligations, not to lose a sense of who I am. Being gets lost in doing, because doing has no room to fail. Any parent who has had to endure one day sliding into the next in a routine of unstoppable care might understand the dilemma, but so, too, does anyone who is balanced precariously on the edge of each paycheck.
It is difficult, in the droning, for people not to get angry at all the interference. I have the innate sense that, if the world’s ridiculous interference were only gone, we could come back into our core self.
I’ve seen that scene before.
Can you see the core that’s missing?
It is easy for people, when they see the flames, to place blame on the fire. But when the flames have good reason for burning, those who are willing to cross the ocean to help the fire melt are everything.
Maybe you can do it with some googly eyes. Maybe you’ll need a warm coffee or a willingness to watch the kids. Maybe it’s in a YouTube playlist. Different hearts each have their own shape and way of filling. But restoration of the core self always starts with looking past the heat. If even one person is willing to do that, that’s enough.