Helping Others

“The lady just has hurts, that’s why we open the door for her,” a young boy explained this to his brother today when I got off the elevator. The reactions of strangers young and old are usually what brings up my self-conscious thoughts on a daily basis, but today, this little fellow’s comments had the opposite effect on me. There is this amazing wisdom to a child’s innocence. Rather than see my disability as a negative, he was teaching his younger brother that we need to help those who need it, no matter what kind of help it is that they might need. Sometimes my small struggles make me feel slightly embarrassed, but today I was reminded that no matter who we are or what we’ve had to survive, we all have reached out to someone at one time or another, and that this doesn’t always come strictly from a sense of duty. Helping others comes from a desire in our hearts to do so, giving to someone else simply feels good, and sometimes even wonderful. Children see the truth so clearly—they don’t judge because they know that we are all the same, we just need that hand to reach out to us in different times and places. 

Tomorrow

I was re-reading the fourth book in Montgomery’s Anne series, ‘Anne of Windy Populars’ again this weekend and I came across a passage I liked where young Elizabeth is talking about tomorrow. “The Woman had told her that Tomorrow never comes, but Elizabeth knows better. It will come sometime. Some beautiful morning she will just wake up and find it is Tomorrow. Not Today but Tomorrow. And then things will happen…wonderful things.” This quote had me thinking about how we often spend most of our time longing for tomorrow and everything that it could bring...something that I have been doing a lot of lately. We have the tendency to paint out glorious futures for ourselves and forget about the moment that we are in. Still, I understand why Elizabeth thought of ‘Tomorrow,’ as some magical place. For her, it was the dream world that she would reach when she grew up and escaped her strict great-grandmother and ‘The Woman,’ and was free to do as she pleased. The quote also suggests that her land of tomorrow will one day be reality, that the future has gifts in store for us.

Can I grasp a part of tomorrow in today? Do you wait for the dream to manifest or do you live within it right now? Maybe there’s a balance, and though you wait in the rain, the struggles of yesterday can be washed away one by one. Perhaps we are granted pieces of tomorrow every day, until we learn to live from a place where taking those risks leaves us unafraid, no matter how many times we might fall. 

Interlude

The fall air draws me in, crisp and warm, and I take my time as I walk along the path stretched before me. The changes I have been longing for have started to take shape, transforming my world gradually month by month so that I have ended up here, nine months in, with the possibilities more real than I had ever hoped they would be. The winds are shifting and the waters are welcoming, and they encourage me to reach a little higher with each day that passes. Here on the brink of my twenty-seventh year, I can clearly envision an end to my waiting, a new beginning that is part expectations, part unexpected. I could run, as I’ve made the choice to do so many times before, but I won’t, because I would say that I’m now in the middle of that chapter where my life will be transformed.

This post is a reflection and a slight segway into a daydream, because that’s what I felt like today—a quiet day with some sun peaking through the clouds. I am not bursting with energy, yet I’m aware of the exciting days to come as I move along my journey. If I am to live my purpose, I can’t let a dull day bring me down, or even a lack of motivation. No matter how long it takes to get where you need to go, you have to hold on, or you might lose your way delay what could be accomplished sooner. Just trust that every step you take, no matter how small, is making a meaningful impact on your world.

Reading Letters

The title of this post may be somewhat misleading. Yesterday I picked up a book called ‘The Letters,’ co-authored by Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger. Ever since I was young, I have really enjoyed novels that follow the format of writing letters back and forth, though I can’t really explain why. Perhaps it’s that feeling of having a inside look into a stranger’s life, even though that stranger is fictional. ‘The Letters’ has the additional element of one author for each letter writer, husband and wife who are in the process of a divorce. Sam is a sports journalist spending time in Alaska in an attempt to gain closure on what happened to their son, while Hadley is renting a house out on the Coast of Maine, and returning to her painting.

I’m only around fifty pages in and starting reading before falling asleep last night. I found myself entrenched in the world of this couples, in their bitterness and humour, their longings and sadness. Learning of their lives together through these letters makes them so real, and both Rice and Monninger write as their characters with strong conviction. I can’t wait until tonight, when I’m back in the world of Sam and Hadley. I really look forward to what will transpire. Another aspect that makes books like this interesting is that letters are a rare form of communication these days, and this seems to connect the characters in a way that I think e-mail could not. Sometimes the letters come in batches, and conflicts are resolved in a way they probably wouldn’t have been if the communication had been instant. I’ll write more on this novel once I finish, but I felt I had to lead my readers to this intriguing find. I realize that the writings of Luanne Rice are usually beach reads, but honestly that’s why I’m a fan of her writing. This book has layers and so far, is not overly sappy if that’s something that doesn’t agree with you. Give it a try and you just might be surprised.      

Another Rainy Afternoon

This afternoon is rainy and grey, and time seems to be going at its own pace, so it has been a good time for reflection and for exploring new ideas. The weather has created a pause in my productivity, but as usual, I love the sound that the drops make as they fall, they way they blanket the world like a mysterious curtain—you never know what they could reveal. The gloominess that has lasted all day can be felt, but more than anything it gives so much space for my thoughts to grow. I still love rainy afternoons, because my imagination wanders and I can more easily escape into my own little worlds. Coffee and words blend so well with the rain, I could write on a day like this for hours.

Today, the words aren’t coming as easily as they usually do, but I’m hoping that tonight may bring them out. Sometimes the middle of the week can leave me searching for a better way to occupy my time when the creativity isn’t so readily flowing. Now, I’m looking for ways to make the most out of these fall days ahead of me. For today, I will embrace the rain that falls around me and allow it to clear away the cobwebs from my mind.