Spinning Plates

Now that's it has been over a week since my anxiety ridden Tuesday, I believe I have wrapped my head around the why.  Life is busy.  Obviously.  There are many different streets running in my life right now and quite frankly, it's a lot of plates to keep spinning.  Tuesday was a day I wanted to let the plates crash to the floor.  It was also the day I came home from work and hard boiled brown eggs and had a moment of pretty with them in my kitchen.  In those moments of seeing the sun bounce of the bowl and noticing the flecks of color in the shells, my plate spinning self calmed.  I could actually feel the stress leaving me.  Piece by piece.  Almost as if I was taking off a cardigan. 

All of this from some brown eggs.  My list was not shorter and responsibilities hadn't left me and I didn't have anyone come in and rescue me.  I took pictures of brown eggs because they were pretty.  I slowed down to take the time.  I took control back.  

And then I went for a run.  A long one.

Life is busy.  For me.  For everyone.  I find that often my first response when someone asks me, "How are you doing?" is...

"Busy.  I'm busy, but good."

That's a rather pathetic way to answer that question.  Because there's more to me than the busy.  If you hear me say that business, stop me.  Stop me and say, "How are you really doing?"  So that I answer with something more from my heart.  Something more about how I'm loving the leaves changing and I'm enjoying the end of the garden produce like squash and carrots and I'm working on perfecting my homemade pizza dough and I've been taking pictures of things which are pretty and I recently discovered I can add raisins to my cereal and it's like a party in the morning and I have been running almost every day and I feel strong and capable and I love my day starting drive with music like the new Mumford & Sons album with coffee while the sun comes up on the right.   

Stop me from using the busy.  So instead I say something about the benefits of busy.  About how I had a rather important meeting at my house a couple Saturdays ago with some teachers I highly respect and am now the president of their organization.  I have to plan a whole year's worth of events for the North Central Reading Council of our state and it makes me nervous to know over twenty years of tradition and excellence sits in my hands.  The morning meeting was to share this year's plan.  The plan which is taking up more than one of my spinning plates.  I decided to create a perk to the busy and use it as the perfect reason to have a little party with the stack o' colorful coffee mugs I recently acquired.  A meeting disguised as a breakfast party.  Now that I can do.  With banana chocolate chip bread baking in my oven, I met with the ladies to hash out the work.  We also laughed and a baby was passed around, making it more than simply a reading meeting.

Monday night was the first of the six class sessions I was in charge of planning.  Ninety-three other teachers met me at our downtown art museum to start their walk down "Literacy Lane."  A compilation of stops at local businesses to celebrate literacy.  To kick it off, I jumped up on a box in front of those ninety-three teachers and told them I was having a, "Whoa!  I'm an adult moment."  Then I relaxed, did my talking, and sent those lovely people on their way to enjoy the experiences planned for them.  The weather was unbelievable in the best of ways and the teachers talked to each other for the sharing of many unique ideas.  But most importantly, everyone relaxed with friends and colleagues who share their same passions.  I had a small moment as I stood on the sidewalk visiting while the sun was setting on the buildings.  A moment of appreciating being busy because it leads to the good stuff of life.  An Evening on Literacy Lane was a success thanks to all of the ladies from my Saturday morning meeting who drank coffee using the stack o' colorful mugs and helped with anything I asked.  One down.  Five to go.