I sat on the shore in the sunshine, haze finally lifted after a humid week, waves leaping, and nothing to do but soak. Soak it all in.
In the distance, I watched my siblings decked in their swimsuits, standing near the edge of the cold, splashing water. They waited, watched, and then leaped in, screaming and swimming to shore only to jump back in a few moments later. They braved the cold, the waves. They took the plunge.
It seems all around me that the winds are shifting. The wheel is turning, bringing us from a time of haze to a time of taking plunges. So many dear family members and friends seem in a place where life is moving up: new freedoms, new jobs, new life plans, new marriages, new education plans…it’s the time for courage, the time for jumps. It’s a wonderful time to be alive.
I also feel at a turning point, a trailhead. I’ve spent a while looking at where I came from, looking back at the road I no longer wanted to be on. No longer could be on. I looked back to see what went wrong, to know who I was not and what I did not believe, could not support. It’s a crucial step, but standing looking back forever is not the place to live. Living can only be done in the present. In the moving forward.
And so now I find myself at the trailhead, shoes on my feet, air in my lungs, heart prepared for the journey. It’s an exciting leap, a hopeful bound. I can walk as far as I want to, wherever I want to. I can choose what to add to my pack and what to throw out. Where to camp for the night and when to keep going. The feeling of possibility is as thick and sweet as the July air. Who knows the adventures ahead!
Stephen observed the other day that that it feels like we’re at the end of a long chapter. Yes, yes it does. And some things, some forms of ourselves are dying with the end of that chapter. And I think that’s as it should be. But with the new beginning we are being reborn for something better.
The winds have shifted over the sea, the haze has lifted, and into the waves we plunge.
Aww! I think this is a really uplifting, true, and hopeful piece! Thank you Rae, for sharing. 🙂
It was inspired by you and Erin, though I couldn’t write that at the time 😉
I believe that you mean to birth thoughts with the words you blog, and with me you always do, and I look forward to you taking another plunge and daring to share, but as you might have noticed, it often takes me a while to ponder the dive you take us on. This time it was easy because I read the picture as much as the words, and with a gallows humor I grinned, for unlike you leaping off the dock, I felt like I was walking the plank. The cardiologist pronounces that without surgery, within three years I’ll be gone. The Echocardiogram urges immediate surgery on the carotid (neck) arteries. I am diagnosed with Diabetes, and my advancing Glaucoma forces the State to take away my drivers license. There is a time for the plunge and another for the tip toe advance in faith into the gathering haze.
I’m so sorry to hear that. Yes, as a wise person once said, there certainly is “a time for everything.” We love you and are praying for you!
Words fail me, so I’ll just offer a heartfelt and deeply sincere thank you for this post. ♡