the tether

"... it never occurred to her that she was looking for a tether.  she thought she was the one that sped things along, the one that sent things on their way, but there she was for the first time delivered."

excerpt from the postmistress by sarah blake

i read that passage thought about tethers and things that anchor us to our lives.  how somes we seek them and sometimes we seek to make ourselves loose of them.  and in searching for exactly the right balance to it all, we can feel adrift and without connection. 

there are times i feel adrift - floating along like this lone little dogwood.  and when i do, i go back to the touchstones of my life - my family, my friends, my job.  it is good to feel connected.  and in some ways, i think that blogging also provides a tether to the world.  we gather around this mutual campfire - warming our hands and our souls.  we circle the wagons up - keeping out the wolves, coyotes and other predators that seek to tear us down.  we pioneers and adventurers.

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today on my ipod:  time (hootie & the blowfish), long day (matchbox twenty), all over you (live), turpentine (brandi carlile), romeo and juliet (dire straits), doctor my eyes (jackson browne), i'm yours (jason mraz), surrounded (chantal kreviazuk), kitchen song (edwin mccain), running to stand still (u2), wantin' her again (ben kweller)

obsessions:  top chef, perfect mashed potatoes, reading

quote:  "a boo is louder than a cheer" - lance armstrong

here's the thing

i've had a lot of time to think over the past few days - driving and flying alone with do that to a person.  my rather full heart tells me that i need to thank each of you for hanging in there with me over the past two years.  so...thank you.  thank you for laughing with me, crying with me, shaking your fist at the insanity of it all.  as writers yourself, i'm sure you know where i'm coming from when i say that there are a lot of days where you keep me grounded.  and by 'you' i mean the collective you of my friends in blogland.

it makes me want to buy a beverage of your choice at a local joint. 

it also reminds me that i want to write better.  i've let my writing slack lately as i've let myself be consumed with the job and other stressors.  i'm sorry for that - just goes to show you how good a friend you are because you still read...*laughs*  i know you guys know that everyone has ebb and flow to their writing mojos.  i've lost some of mine - writing is one of those weird things that is the more you write, the better you are at it...however, it also seems that the more you write crap - the crappier your writing becomes.  so, that's on my list...practice writing again.  it's sort of a thing i've become aware of to the tune of 'physician heal thyself'.  i'm sure you can draw from that sentence whatever conclusions you want.  *smile*

somehow that is related to 'whatever you resist, persists.' 

i hope you're having a beautiful beginning to april.  i've been surrounded with the glory that is april over the past week with the glorious sunshine and flowers of the spring.  my sinuses are going insane but i wouldn't trade the beauty for the world.