Hello beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful friends!
I have a slight cold this week, which is an unnerving condition to have these days. Remember when you’d take your phlegmy throat and low-energy to the couch with a cup of honey tea and relax into some cozy self-care, a good book and enjoy the wee visiting cold?
NOT ANY MORE.
Instead, Monday morning I took two at-home covid tests, saw a positive result and then thought of all the people I needed to tell which brought on big waves of panic and shame (more in the video). Video spoiler alert: I read the test wrong. Oops.
In other news, look who’s resting peacefully these days (with my cursor in his mouth):
My Dad. Ninety-seven and collecting energy for the big adventure ahead. When he first went into the adult family care home three years ago, the hospice pamphlets included a bit on how to tell that your loved one is getting close to departure. Once the loved one starts sleeping a lot, it’s a sure sign because they have a big job to do and they’re resting up. WOAW. That little sentence said so much that I had never heard before. And so, as my dad has sat in his chair for the last three years doing not much of anything, I’ve been wondering what he’s been resting up for. I hope it’s amazing.
I FaceTime him through his caretaker, and the last couple of weeks he hasn’t had much to say, but he looks euphorically peaceful. When I tell him I love him, there’s a murmur and his smile extends slightly. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, I adore him more than ever these days.
Dad would approve of the following instructions
Lastly, here’s a Mary Oliver poem the wonderful Clare Dimond reminded me of yesterday. I drop it in here as an invitation. What if for the next week, we make this our mission?
INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIVING A LIFE
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Get out into the world and walk slowly, stop and wonder, sniff, touch, say Hi, turn up the volume on your favorite song, give a loved one an extra squeeze, have concurrent days of canoodling.
Then,
Tell us about it.
Have a great week.
Drop-in coaching on Tuesdays
Through May I’m offering drop-in coaching sessions on Tuesdays. It could be a new chapter you’re trembling before, and you’d like someone with whom you can explore uncharted territory and see new possibilities, or you’re blooming with an idea but can’t get it off the ground. Is a writer’s life tap-tap-tapping away at you?
One hour, $200, you + me + Thursday = waking up for the slumber and coming alive, again.
Email me at tatyana@everydaycreative to inquire/schedule.
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