Spreading Sunshine
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to brighten your day and make you smile!
Issue 4, April 19, 2007
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Here Comes The Sun
© 2007 Laurie Smith
It had been a rainy day, the
kind of rain where the water comes down sideways and all you want to do is cuddle up inside and stay warm. We lit a fire and
spent most of the day hanging out together as a family, I curled up in a big chair with my laptop, my husband and son played
together on the floor close by, the cat strategically positioned herself near anyone willing to scratch her ears.
Finally, late in the day, we put on our raincoats and ventured out in the weather to visit friends in San Francisco.
As we drove toward the city, we couldn’t help but notice the bright skies. “I can’t believe it’s clear
here!” I marveled. Suddenly, a sunbeam broke through the clouds, parting the dark storm clouds, its light flickering
off the bay.
“There has to be a rainbow somewhere,” my husband mused.
As if on cue, the most extraordinary rainbow appeared, the colors shining so bright it seemed as if we could reach
out and touch it. The brighter the sun grew, the more brilliant the rainbow became, hanging in the air in front of the city
skyline like a vision in a 3-D movie; it felt as if we could reach out and touch it.
“Look
at the colors,” our two-year old son chatted away in the backseat.
As we drove over the Golden
Gate Bridge, we couldn’t just see part of the rainbow, we had front row seats as this glorious rainbow stretched a full
180 degrees, half a circle over the water, growing brighter and brighter.
As we finally paid the bridge
toll and drove away, we were different people. The weather had shifted, and so had our perspectives. The day was no longer
dismal; it was miraculous.
Calm After The Storm
©
2007 Laurie Smith
I
had a near epiphany-like experience recently. I took a nap.
Before this miraculous event,
I couldn’t get motivated to straighten the house, pick up the toys or do all the things on my to-do list. “Small”
stuff seemed big.
I was coming out of a time when I had been cramming every waking minute with writing
projects, travel and getting things done. Those who know me well know how I often go in these productive peaks and then need
to crash and restore myself. Restoring is the part of this rhythm I often forget.
The most
amazing thing was, after I woke up from that nap, how terrific I felt. I was a different person—peaceful, calm, relaxed
and happy. Upon waking, I was suddenly ready to dive into some of the less glamorous tasks that had been neglected during
my productive peak—cleaning the fridge, scrubbing the stove burners, doing the wash…
One
of the greatest lessons I have learned (and am still learning) from being on the local novice crew team here in Marin is the
power of rest. There are two motions in the rowing stroke. One is pulling the oar through the water to move the boat. The
other involves pulling the oar out of the water, and moving back up the slide to the “catch”— the point
where the oar goes back into the water once more.
The slower, more relaxed we can be as we go
up the slide, the more energy we have when we get to the water to drive forward. If we remember to go slow when the oar is
out of the water, and fast when it’s in the water, that’s when magic happens. We maintain balance and the boat
flies fast. Exhilaration begins and races are won.
During the last practice, one of my teammates
called out, “Let the boat do the work while you recover!” I couldn’t help but think what good advice that
is for life as well as for rowing. There is this wonderful current to life, I believe, that takes over when we take a breath
and enjoy the ride.
So, the sunshine I want to spread in this issue is this: If you’re stuck in
any place in your life--rest. Rest deeply, my friend. Rest can take many forms—a nap, much needed vacation, or even
giving your mind a day-long sabbatical from “it”—whatever “it” is for you today.
As SARK, one of my favorite authors writes:
“A good nap can be hard to
find. Sneak away, and set yourself up for the perfect nap. A small snack, your favorite pillow, and a certain kind of quiet.
Perhaps something to read, and if you can manage it, a shaft of sunlight. All at once, you sail away into a nap, where tangled
nerves are untied, and where time stops. Guilt and expectations are not welcome in napland. You can always find a reason not
to take a nap, find more reason s to let naps take you!”
Sometimes that’s all we
need to do to have the sun break through the storm clouds of our life, and have life look a whole lot brighter.