Wednesday 16 October 2013

Next Stop: 'Zoomerland'!

Next stop: ‘Zoomerland’!

I’m taking a good look at what happened during my trip through ‘Boomerland’ - that magical place where this life of mine was planted, filled with beautiful, powerful, and sometimes frightening ‘booms’ that have challenged me to accept who I am.  When I wake up each morning, (after I take a few deep breaths and coax my eyes into staying open this time for sure!) it is with the realization that I am a very small piece of a very complicated puzzle.  I offer up a prayer that whatever I am and can do, will help to make this world a better place, and I ask for help in overcoming whatever fears keep me from doing that.
 I step out of bed, hit my toe on a table, and boom! all of that positive vibe has moved aside to make way for a false set of priorities, carried in by my unwanted shadow, the worry bug: ‘Oh Lord, I need to vacuum the house, clean the windows, dust the piano and cover it back up again (We’re still in house painting mode), rake the leaves, and paint something!’  My heart tries to break into the conversation: “Ahem, perhaps you could go for a walk, do some writing, work on your next book, try some sketching, practice your guitar or jump into those leaves!?”  These are all things that might distract the worry bug and get him to lighten up - He’s such a serious fellow!
In the end, we are who we are, with all of our unique imperfections, but also with the immense potential that resides within us, waiting to be asked to come forward.  We are largely unknown to ourselves; the face that we see in the mirror each morning hides behind it someone unique that wants to meet us and be included in our day.  What do we do?   Cover it up with makeup of various kinds, and give it nasty looks as we ignore its hopeful gaze, and try to form it into some version of ourselves that we think is expected or will be accepted by the world out there. 
Perhaps this next trip into ‘Zoomerland’ will allow us to relax and grow in charming ways - like a weathered barn, a fragile little shed, or a mature graceful tree - more beautiful with age.  In my third children’s book “How To Stretch A Puddle”,  I included a poem called “The Mighty Little” and it asks the question:  ‘How could something once so small become a tree so big and tall; It looked around just glad to be, It didn’t know it was a tree.”   Never underestimate your inner strength, your potential or your Zoom!