Showers
Prompt #1: Use the image above to spark a story. Feel yourself sitting on the pier. What do you hear, smell, feel…?
Prompt #2: April showers bring May flowers. This phrase reminds us that not all forward motion is comfortable, but does lead to beautiful things. What difficulties are you currently working through and what good do you think is preparing to sprout?
Prompt #3: Puddle jumping! There is joy in splashing through puddles. Making a mess. Getting wet. As adults we stop jumping in puddles on the sidewalk that are reflecting the sky above. Imagine yourself walking outside after a storm. Describe the feeling of splashing around in the puddles.
My Journal Page
Journal Response: (reposted from 2010)
My Life Needs a Cleaning
My life needs a cleaning. My priorities are not in sync with who I am. I will have to say no to people today. I will have to upset people. I will need to make things okay for people. Then I suddenly realized something. I need to make more messes. And, most importantly, I need to learn to live with them.
When my kids would want to go ‘puddle jumping’ after a summer storm, I too wanted to go outside to smell the damp earth and see the world glistening in the new sun. But, I would think instead, it’s wet out, they’ll get muddy, and I’ll have to clean up the mess. “How about staying in and coloring?”
Despite the lack of sleep and lack of energy, I would eventually break down and let them waddle out of the house in their ladybug and bubble-bee rain gear to splash around the block in every puddle they could find. I cringed at the mud spotting their coats and the tiny, dotted stains on their water-soaked leggings. I had to breathe deeply and embrace the mess that is childhood.
It wasn’t until I heard their happy squeals; pink cheeked and bright faces freckled with mud that I could let go and laugh with them. Bending over to look in a puddle, they’d point to the tree reflected on the smooth surface just before jumping in, trying to make the ‘biggest splash ever.’ It was this awareness of the world around them that filled my heart. Forgetting the extra work the muddy mess was making and instead embracing the joy of just being.
Oddly enough, once the mess was made, the dripping coats by the door weren’t so bothersome because the joy of the moment lingered, it changed me, shifted my consciousness.
And the cuddling on the sofa, under a cozy blanket, would not have been as rewarding if we had stayed inside, dry and mud-free, coloring in our coloring books, trying to stay within the lines.