With each
season, I find myself baffled by the passage of time. I shake my head and say “I can’t believe it
is June already!” Many chime in their disbelief, recognizing the rapid ticking
of our precious life moments. Where did
the last six months go? In fact, where
did those twenty years go?
Being a
Pisces, I adore water. From chlorine to
sea salt, I can float, body board, dive and splash filling my heart with
contented aqua bliss. As I clicked on
quotes to capture this seasonal message, Mark Twain’s philosophical whimsy
jumped off the page and sailed right up to me. I admit having to look up the
definition of “bowline” and I was quite satisfied with the meaning and how it
lent itself to this letter. A bowline is
“a rope used to keep the edge of a sail pulled forward and taut; a knot used
for making a loop that will not slip.” (Webster Dictionary)
A client
was caught in knots of stress and limitations. Her stiff, unwavering sails were
harshly directed toward “woe is me” as she struggled with unemployment and
financial demands. She compared her
circumstance to friends she thought were sailing more smoothly in life. She was
stuck on the “deprivation” skiff, and was irritated, fatigued and lamenting the
lack of possibilities or progress. She
needed to throw off the bowline! I asked her to imagine sailing from a place of
constraining disappointment to exploring her options and from there, dreaming
up her desires and discovering how to create experiences.
Can this
summer be the season of loosening the knots of irritation, regret, and
distraction? Often, we cling to the familiarity of sailing only in the same
fashion as we have always done. What if
you were to “throw off” your knots, leave what is “safe and familiar” and sail
toward a different goal or direction?
You see,
when we explore rather than lament and dream rather than deteriorate, we relax
the emotional strain and begin to discover new ways of experiencing
relationships and events.
Imagine loosening up the predictability of your tension and replacing it with spontaneous creativity, musings and explorations which carry you in a colorful, new direction…now that is not disappointing, that is living!
Explore
what you would like to discover more of this summer. What about more laughter? Golden
sunsets? Family time playing games or
taking walks? Home projects with an ice cream sundae as the reward? More turning the music up and dancing! When we realize we have bountiful options for
our EXPERIENCES, then we are discovering how rich and plentiful the journey can
be.
