Skip to main content

Coming Back to Self

Life has a funny way of bringing you back to where you found yourself in the first place.

I have always been writing, every since my father handed me a pencil and a Big Chief Notepad. There was a level of truth in being alone, staring at a blank page with that extra sharp #2 pencil and a world of possibilities at my creation.

I have been thinking about those stories in the midst of endless reading and writing 1000 word reflections on this journey through seminary. Story has been and will always be the thing that draws us back to self.

Self. That truest part of us, the inner part, that yearns and remembers.

For me, that is surrounded by books, all the colorful pens and pencils I can buy, and journals.

There is a promise that holds in the unopened stack of Moleskins or that great handmade journal I picked up in my travels. There is something hopeful about it.

Life life.

Like coming back to self.

Even if life's wandering roads made you curious about what else was out there, at some point, there is that moment when you stop in the middle of the road, look around, and remember when you were your most you.

That moment.

That is what matters.

Because with all the other craziness swirling around us and the always on notices, it can seem like the truest self is no where to be found.

In this season of reflections and spring refusing to come, spend some time with just you.

Come back to. you.

The real you.

Not the selfie you.

Not the posting about all things fabulous you (so guilty!)

But the you that tis quiet in the early mornings, sipping a latte, looking out over the balcony at the trees, longing for the calm waters, and wondering how long you can just be in that moment.  That you. That you that remembers what it was once like to just be.

I'm thinking about those moments. In the hustle and bustle of teen daughters and writing papers and prepping for a busy summer, I am reminding myself to go back to moments of still.

And just breathe.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hannah's Song

We came together last night and sang Hannah's song. Family from California was in town, it was the night before Aunt Hannah's Home Going Celebration. We met at my house late in the evening to fellowship, remember, hug, eat, and laugh. Thom felt the love in the room and I'm sure his mom would've appreciated us doing what she did all her life - love. Aunt Hannah was a gracious woman. Her gentle spirit, sparkling eyes, and constant smile will be remembered. She has left us physically, but never spiritually. The laughter was like music in Thom's ear. For the first time in weeks I saw my cousin relax. He has been in a tornado for the past four weeks from his mother's diagnosis to her death. Even in her final stage, Aunt Hannah was granted her desire. She asked to not suffer long when it was her time to go, she had been a caregiver her whole life and I'm sure her prayer was for her son. In the last days of her life, she still greeted well wishers with a wa...

Brothers, Can we Talk?

 I'm a Black woman, born of a Black woman and a Black man. When my mother died, it was my father who nurtured me and instilled in me a sense of pride of self, of my race, of my abilities to do whatever I put my mind to do. He never imposed limitations on me as a Black woman. The only caution he ever gave me was to not burn my candle at both ends and to be mindful of my health, I am an asthmatic. He never stopped me from trying anything and always encouraged me. Daddy was a strong Black man who introduced me to Shirley Chisholm when I was a little girl. He reminded me of the fortitude of my late mother's quest for gender equality in the workplace and of the namesake who marched at Selma.  He is the one who gave me my pseudonym, TayĆ©. Daddy was a strong tower of empowerment and fought all the way to his last breath for social, gender, and racial justice. It is in remembering my father this morning that I'm asking the brothers, can we talk? What is it, especially those of my g...

Ashes to Ashes

 This is Ash Wednesday. For a lot of Catholics and Anglican Christians, it begins the holy season of Lent. We remember we are but dust and to dust we return, ashes to ashes.  It is a somber reminder of our humanity and the finality of life. We are a mere breath. Today, as a Hospital Chaplain Resident, I am imposing ashes on patients, family, and staff. It is a visible marker of a shared faith and belief. We look with anticipation to the finished work of salvation on the cross and in eager hope of the resurrection. As my day progressed, I noticed how much hope was in the eyes of the ones giving and receiving this reminder of our existence. It was both a somber moment and a joyful moment. Two things can exist at the same time. Like the world we find ourselves in. Even as it seems like the darkest, certainly the darkest I’ve known in my six decades on this earth. Completely imperfect as a nation, there was still a glimmer of light until the nightmare became reality. We wonder abo...