I am grateful this evening for sticking with things and seeing them through, whatever they are. Most recently, I was pleased to be able to get through the 21 day nutritional cleanse–when I first started it, I was in serious doubt that I would be able to feed myself the required healthy fare for the entire period. Yet not only did I manage it, I sort of breezed through it. I expected to be hungry and cranky and dragging, but after the first day or so I’d gotten the hang of it and was able to persist through the end. While I’m still figuring out how to continue some of the healthy habits I started a month ago, it was good to do something good for my body.
Now I am coming to the end of another long mission. Due to a series of unfortunate events, back in July I found myself in a position of having to drive my son to work every day. We knew that this would be required until early in November. Doing this has required me to drive at least 48 miles per day, four or five days per week. There have been many days during that time when I did not feel like making that 12-mile drive into Berkeley. And, because Jared works from 3 to 11 p.m. it has meant late night driving. Most days we don’t get home before 11:30 p.m. Back in July when we first started this odyssey it seemed like I would be doing this drive forever, that November was so far away. I had no idea how I was going to do it. But, I did it. And after all these days, weeks, months, only twice did we have miscommunications that meant that I drove all the way into Berkeley only to discover that Jared didn’t need a ride. Only in the last couple of days did I realize that we have nearly reached the end of the road–literally and figuratively–of this process.
As hard as I thought it would be, and with all the miles logged and fuel expended, I am grateful for all the interesting things that have happened over these four months of driving Jared to and from work. For one thing, I spent a lot of time in conversation with him, which is a good thing. We talked about important life things. We talked about music, about humorous things, about philosophical things. Over the many hours I logged on that drive I also listened to four epic audiobooks, and when I ran out of the fantasy trilogy I’d been listening to, I started in on books and lectures about mindfulness meditation, compassion, and lovingkindness. When I started taking Jared to work is also when I started walking at the Park. If you’ve read this blog much over the past few months, you know how important my treks around Chavez Park have become. Over the months this connection to the beauty of the San Francisco Bay has been an essential part of the healing process I’ve been undergoing over the last several months. So, we did it. Four months and a few thousand miles and now we’re within a few days of Jared once again driving himself to work. It’s been a good time. Not always easy, but as I think about it, good. And I am grateful for it all.
Stars in the San Francisco Bay
What a wild ride I’ve been on throughout much of 2011. Not what I expected, planned for, dreamed of, and probably not what I would have chosen for myself. But, as the old folks used to say, “I wouldn’t take nothin’ for my journey,” which is to say that, even though it’s been wild, I wouldn’t trade it. I am grateful for the path I’m on–the path of reinvention, as my friend Mai calls it. There are miles ahead and probably more twists and turns in my road, and with a little faith, a lot of grace, love, compassion and gratitude, I travel on.
© M. T. Chamblee, 2011
