In the middle of pivoting

 

Pivot, turning point, swivel point, axel, hinge, pin, hub, heart

To pivot on its axis

Pivot the drill to keep the screw going in straight

The moment was a pivotal point in my life

Pivot on your toes (like a ballerina), face the basket, shoot from your hips

 

It was a pivotal moment -

The birth of my first baby and the first day with her

The death of my father

The death of my best friend

The explosion within my marriage (don’t worry, God healed, we’re still married)

Attending my son’s graduation from Marine Boot Camp

The completion of my first novel (as yet unpublished)

The publication of my first book (non-fiction)

The first days of a new job

And the events of the past few months, all crammed together to create a huge pivot, which is still pivoting … I think

It’s difficult to perceive a pivot in time when I am in the middle of it. But I know that is what is happening now. Mom’s death, a trip by car to Arizona, finding out things I didn’t know about my childhood/mom/dad/past, saying good-bye to my childhood home for the last time, a last minute trip to Wisconsin and my youngest daughter moving back in for a while, my husband retiring, me quitting my job because my husband asked me to (it’s alright, I was ready to leave anyway)

All in four months

… I’m totally in the middle of pivoting … still moving in a new direction … still waiting for the movement to stop so I can catch my breath …still sorting through all my stash of possessions and giving away things to make room for other things … still writing impressions and emotions and discoveries and mourning losses and celebrating freedoms and finding a space for daily pondering with God.  

Spending time in The Word is a pin, an anchor, to hold me in place during all this movement. So is writing ...

FMF - Go see what others are saying about "pivot" ...

P.S. ... could you give me a like and a follow so I don't lose you and you don't lose me? Thank you. 

Today's Vibe is ...

 By VIBE, I feel like I need to say what society is going through, but that's from my high school days, when we used to ask people we meet, "What's the vibe?" (How are things going today, physically, emotionally, situationally, etc.) ... or "I don't like the vibe in this room" (a feeling of tenseness or anger). 

Well, this week I have been contemplating Juneteenth and all the emotions and opinions surrounding it in my area. Mostly people around here don't like it because, 1. It's a new national holiday, so no mail, no bank, etc. and 2. It doesn't pertain to them much. 

But I disagree. I'm glad we finally have a holiday that commemorates the ending of the American Civil War and the ending of legal slavery. 

What a horrible time that was in our history, so much hatred, so much strife, so much death, so much destruction. I hate to say it was worth it, but a lot of good came out of it.

And we should celebrate the good.

So, my five minutes of thought on VIBE is how I choose to use today. I will do my responsibilities in gratefulness. I will work toward freedom in all its forms for myself and for those around me. I will celebrate the unity we have in our country in all its forms and strive to live in unity with all those around me, especially my family. 

And I will work toward peace in my heart, in my home, in my family, and in my community. 

That's more than enough work for any human being. 

Today's VIBE is positive!

Five Minute Friday is the place to be today. Go check it out.

Just a part

(truck piston)

the way I part my hair

the way I'm a part of the whole in this peaceful place of healing

the part where you tell me something and ask for my opinion and I give you my opinion and you accept it, but you don't necessarily agree, and that's okay

my part in the problem - to be recognized and fixed if possible

I am a part of the landscape, walking around with a grocery cart, choosing what I want to consume, what I am willing to pay for, what I will take responsibility for ...

I sit at my desk which is a central part of this room, which is a small portion of this house, which sits on the property we bought years ago, which is a portion of 175 acres of farmland, which is part of Morrow County, which is an unimportant, but still growing portion of the state of Ohio, which is a part of the United States of America, which is an uneasy brother of the countries of the world, which is a tiny rock in the universe God created years ago to move in harmony by the power of His Might.

And this is just a part of the vast amount of thoughts swirling in my brain.

Five Minute Friday - the place to be today!

Blessings!

Don't criticize

 

Those words still ring in my ears to this day. "Don't criticize," my mother used to say to me when I found something wrong with a person, a musical performance, a piece of art, or the way someone was dressed.

The problem was she set the example of criticizing. When she got on a roll, we knew to just let it ride out. She used words like "frumpy", "glaring", "not right", "inappropriate", even "common". She could be brutal. Each time I felt horrible for the person or thing she was running down but kept my mouth shut.

I don't think she realized her hypocrisy. She usually started verballing tearing something apart when she was angry, hungry, confused, tired, or afraid. It took me many years to find the understanding of what was really happening.   

And I find the same weakness in myself. I catch it and stop it when it is brought to my attention, hopefully by God, privately, in my head. But my most recent employment pulled me back into the cycle of ragging on something or someone and then apologizing. It is difficult to be in a culture of criticism and stay away from the practice myself. 

Very difficult.

But lest we forget, there is a positive side to criticism - evaluation, rebuke, disapproval, analysis, review, assessment, appraisal - all of these have positive and negative connotations. 

Criticism can make us better.

And so, it was with my mom. She was right about a lot of what she criticized, and in a way, it taught me which direction to go. Dress nicely while in public. Do not cuss or swear in public. Pay attention when you are moving about in a crowd. Use your directionals while driving and when in doubt, let someone merge. Pick up your trash. Leave the space better than when you found it.

Boy, could I write more! But we will leave it like this for Five Minute Friday.