The sun came up this morning, which is never a minor detail that we should take for granted.
The weather is warm today. Unusually warm. Jelle said when we had a walk: The world is in a state of emergency. And I was thinking: Only few will recognize the tender footsteps of the coming Lord. May we have ears to listen.
The weather broke another record: It’s never been this warm during the last day and the first of the year in many places of the world. Our winter coats are hanging untouched on the hook in the corridor.
We’d baked Cinnamon roll’s and there should be no reason to feel sad! And yet.
I feel all over the place. Our New Years Day family gathering is canceled. I refuse to open my laptop, went for a walk, and got home, bored. I did not want to spend my time on the World Wide Web but longed for a real connection.
That made me think. I can be grumpy and stay in this mood, but how do I pull myself together? Step out of this “Oh, I am so sorry for myself” moodiness?
Yep, Make another cup of tea and get out of the house. But it’s raining! Get an umbrella! But it’s cold! Get a coat. But it’s boring! Just Get Outside for at least five minutes. Get distracted from unhelpful thoughts. Focus, for example at the sky the landscape, or the architecture in your neighborhood.
And rest, because last night was a short one, eh.
How do you do that: pull yourself together?
It feels to me, that it is the art of life. Turning this sadness into a moment with perspective. Not that we should be hiding the feelings of sadness, but rather recognizing the loss of what is not. Whatever it is.
- Recognize the loss.
- Acknowledge the loss
- Re-pack yourself and change the situation into something good. Enjoy little things. Seek perspective. That is a complicated business.
Tonight, I am visiting Jelle’s dad, who is alone since Jelle’s mom passed away a few years ago. We will play the flute and organ and I know that these are amongst the most precious hours I have spent with my father-in-law. Jelle is spending time with his siblings, but we cannot all go there, so we split up. Only small gatherings are allowed. I can be sad about it, and yet, why not enjoy this precious moment with Jelle’s father?
Isn’t that probably the biggest lesson we have to learn in this pandemic season?
How can we change the sad into something meaningful and therefore beautiful, without hiding the sadness that there is too?
A question that is not easily answered. But we can search for the answer in hidden corners of our lives.
May God grant us the sensitivity to grasp it.
“God, grant me
the serenity to accept
the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.”
Read also what I wrote in 2018: What to do when you face loneliness?
This is day 43-50 of the 100 days-100 words project. (yes, we are halfway already!) I started somewhere in mid-November: 700 words per week in which the Rule of Life per week becomes a bit more visible. This is a “Create in Public” Pathway.
I linger on the letter D of Dear Ones Around Me during these Christmas holidays, and therefore it is the best time to have Two announcements:
1. Yep! We are having an Online Meeting about A Rule of Life. Let me know if you also, like a few others, would like to join, and I will send you the link to the Zoom meeting. It will be hosted in January.
2. Do you know that you can sign up for the Online Retreats already?
Agenda 2022: Online retreats: The World Around My Table
Looking very much forward to meeting you at one of these sessions.
Janneke
P.s. Did you enjoy my End of the Year Reflections?
With family pictures, more about our work with the Sally’s, staying in a nearly 1000 year old monastery and more?
What was your biggest highlight (or moment of sadness) of 2021?
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