Fresh starts, new opportunities

With Labour Day weekend over, today feels like New Years day to me.  For so many years of my life the Tuesday after labour day was significant.  Perhaps I was starting something new like a new school year, or a new program at University, or teaching a new class.  Perhaps I was sending the kids off to a new class or a new school or away for university.  My hearts leaps with that remembered sense of fresh start, new learning, new books, clean exercise books, sharpened long pencils.  There is an energy connected with the first week of September.  An energy of exciting anticipation, accompanied by curious flips through new books and new people with whom to connect.  Eager to do well, I imagined enthusiastically completing assignments.  It thrills me to think about it.

I know I am best at starting up new things.  Planning and getting things moving forward are my strengths.  I am not so good at maintenance and finishing up details.  It is good to know our strengths and to have patience with our less developed parts. This summer I willed myself to complete the book I was writing about Mom’s life.  Sticking to completion of the final draft was painful for me.  My struggling attention to detail felt like a snails pace even with the excellent editing and layout help I received.  But I did it.

I have recently purchased a new sewing machine.  Oh it is a smart machine, adeptly computerized to make me look good … maybe.  In the depths of my creative being, I want to be able to sit down and make it do what I want it to do with little effort on my part but … no … that is not possible.  There is a rather steep learning curve requiring my patience to become familiar with its many features.  As smart as it is, it still requires a relatively smart operator to let its features shine.  I am learning through all the struggles.  In spite of my impatience with the process, I know for sure that it is only through more practice that I can actually  work with it more intuitively.  It will come.

How much like life these examples reveal. How much they tell me of what stuff I am made.  How much it helps me learn more about who I am simply by noticing and being aware of my response to these situations. Sometimes it is the simplest of stories that tell us most about who we really are.

What do you notice about yourself?  Are you able to have respect for even your shortcomings?

by the way there are still openings in the October retreat.  I have added a new link to give you a little more information about it.  And I have added October dates for two half-day workshops.  Go to my website at http://marieknapp.com and check out the drop down menu under events for the details.

Till next time,

warmly,

Marie