Why Do We Do This?

As the holiday season is ebbing and building around me and as I look at experiences that are rolling through my life; there are days I feel like I’m living the Blair Witch Project. Okay— no I’m not running through the forest at night, scared for my life, but sometimes, I feel like I am holding the camera of life, and there are days my hands aren’t too sturdy.

Let me explain—time is running at me so fast and at such a force, that the moment I realize it’s here I’m already asking what just hit me as I am looking at its backside. Why do I do this? Every year, every holiday season, I have grand plans, yet decide to throw away the instructions and misplace the right tools for the job. Then as the deadline creeps upon me, I run around in a clusterf*ck wondering where I put the damn screwdriver!

It isn’t because I don’t care or don’t want a great experience for my family. I think the huge pink elephant in the room for me in the months of November through December is the fact that I get caught with my sweatpants down around my ankles and end up scrambling to pull them up before I run.

Hence, the reckless, bouncy, dizzy— vomit inducing camera work. God forbid I actually turn the lens on myself and talk into it. Yes, there are days I want to throw on my jacket, pull down my beanie, snatch the video camera of life, and head out to the forest, but those days tend to be the ones I should stay home, build a fire, and sip my hot cocoa.

Thank god for the people around me. Everyone needs people who will grab the camera from you and steady the video of your life. Fortunately, the camera operators in my life tend to shy away from drama. My “videographers” are the type who decide to press the pause button when I pull at the seat of my pants or have spinach in my teeth. They are the ones who record the amazing moments in my life and never get tired of rewinding the best parts.

So I guess in a roundabout way, this is my moment to thank the “videographers” in my life. This is the time to be grateful for those people who make me shine, protect my privacy, support my ideas, and just unconditionally love me for who I am; because without them, I would be just another chaotic, dizzying, heart-pounding Blair Witch Project look alike.

The Fires of Change

Change can be hard, but without change nothing would happen. We could look at a forest fire as completely devastating or we can see the rebirth and new growth it creates. I never knew for the longest time that fires are as vital to nature as the rain. Come to find out, fire must occur to saturate the soil in minerals and remove the old stagnant growth that is stifling the rejuvenation of nature’s very essence.

We tend to only see what the fire takes. We grieve for huge forests lost to a limitless power that can scorch within seconds. We ache for what was once there. It’s only natural to feel the loss when you watch the land being swallowed by an awesome power. We see the devastation and long for what once belonged there. But you see, live is continual. We live in a circular motion. We tend to experience life in such a limited interpretation. What if we decided to break away from those limited beliefs? What if instead of seeing every loss in our lives as devastating, we rejoice in the potential that a tough moment creates for us? How different our lives would be.

Yes, when we go through a major life altering event, our forest fire that consumed everything in our lives, we feel the deep ache, pain, hurt, anger, and the turmoil it created. We feel betrayed by life’s thoughtlessness. But it’s our choice to see the devastation or the potential. It’s all in how we react. We can spend our lives begging and searching for the why me or we can move forward leaving behind what used to be.

We can’t take someone who never saw the forest before the massive fire and get them to see the full beauty that was lost. It was the past; the spent ideas nature chose to change. All we can do is promote new growth, wait to see what new expressions will come from the mineral rich soil. We must let go of what used to be and embrace what is now.

Today is your opportunity to move away from the fires that consume your life and plant new ideas in the black char-coaled soil filled with limitless potential. It is your moment to stand back, take in the open space that lie before you, and recognize it is nature giving you new place to start. The possibilities are unlimited; the Universe is waiting for you to plunge your hands into its soil of change. What are you waiting for?