Clarity

Hello, my friends.  Sorry I've been so absent for the last two weeks.  I had intended to write a post about a quick trip to New York that Mr. Magpie and I took, but I found myself at a loss for words for several days in the wake of the terrorist shootings at Charlie Hebdo.  Like all of you, I was horrified and saddened.  Nothing I wrote felt like enough.  I needed to be quiet and to think.  So many were  writing words and creating images that spoke out powerfully against terror.  I read their words and shared images across social media with friends and colleagues.  The experience confirmed to me that my word for the year, "see," had been a good choice.

And then yesterday morning I began taking Kim Klassen's Be Still--Fifty-Two class.  These photos are my response to her first lesson.  I can't begin to express how grateful I am to be taking the class and to be focusing so intently on being still.  The world feels like a wild place both close to home and thousands of miles away, and to spend a little time each day being quiet and still is a blessing. 

I am giving myself several challenges this year, each one of them a gift in its own way.  Sometimes discovering the clarity one needs to take the next step is more difficult than taking the step itself. Which way to go?  How far?  What lies around the next bend in the path?  I could stay frozen with worry forever.  

And so, I'm teaching myself to understand the difference between simply worrying and actually doing the kind of thinking that creates clarity.  I don't need to see all the way down the path.  I just need to see a step or two ahead of me to be brave enough to keep going.

Sending warm thoughts and thanks to you today.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  xo Gigi