Tamara shared this explanation of her photo with me today:
I was pretty sure I would be high and dry for Resolve week but Cary got out there with the lawn mower ‘one last time’ this year and it hit me!
This is Resolve for a man who really dislikes mowing the lawn. And he mows the ‘front’ lawn for our neighbors who don’t own lawn mowers.
He was never asked to do this he just does it as a courtesy.
So I got out there with my camera and this is what I got. 🙂
There were many photos to chose from but I think it speak volumes to mow the lawn with both flair and cowboy boots!
And one last thing; when Cary got his boots on Natasha said, “That’s my dad!
Tamara was also showing RESOLVE for sticking with it until she got what she needed!
And January helps us to see another nuance of the word:
Re-solve
by January Handl
Zen is the art of beginning again…
when my fortitude
begins to dissolve
and my smallest self whines
in pity and complaint
I try to re-member
my strength
I try to let whatever is
be ok
Be OK
and so sense into the
needed rest
the needed breath
and allow what
pain and fear
I want to look away from
to become fully present
Yes,
even welcome
Once I look it in the eye
I know that it is made bigger
by my avoidance,
made insurmountable
by my retreat
made into suffering
by my
clinging or denial
And I re-solve my
current crisis
by showing myself some
deep compassion,
then with gladness
taking up my
joyful burden with
a solid core
of knowing I am
never alone
and
sometimes
it is just
hard being a person
Awesome January! Sometimes it is hard, and we can keep going anyway!
Resolve showed its feisty commitment in my house this morning too! We spent the weekend kind of destroying the house with different projects and then I noticed on our calendar that we had a play date scheduled for this afternoon AND I am scheduled for parent participation at my daughter’s school AND I still hadn’t written my post about resolve!!! Just how was all this supposed to happen? It seemed like canceling the play date might be the easiest way to go but this was a play date that had already been cancelled twice and Sweets was SO looking forward to it.
Cancelling was not an option! I immediately kicked it into high gear… I found the house in record time, managed to get the girl off to school on time and now I have exactly 30 minutes to pull my RESOLVE post together before I need to be back at the school. Phew!! I’m actually going to do it!
And I have to say it really feels good. I didn’t feel like racing around like a maniac but once I resolved to do it all I was unstoppable!!
RESOLVE is a powerful ally.
How will you use RESOLVE this week?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tamara and January are here each Monday to help set the mood for the week!
Tamara Magnitsky
Tamara Magnitsky, a child of the wild blue yonder,
has been an ardent student and advocate for poetry, photography and excellence in general.
She is the mother of a 6 year old daughter and a beloved wife.
She can be found most days.
Bio written by Cary Brosius ~Tamara’s husband 🙂
January Handl
January Handl is first and always a mother, has been a preschool teacher and parent educator for 25 years. She is currently the Director/head teacher at Gazebo Park School, and lives at Esalen Institute in Big Sur. She lives simply in awe of existence.
She calls her photo “hot tub bliss” 🙂
I LOVE this! So much power in the simple moments – from mowing the lawn to preparing for a playdate. And the poem? Says it all, in such mystically simple terms. I am dancing with resolve myself this week…it’s quite the tango. 😉
Thank you Lisa! Dance away…
Oh, this is good! And I was inspired by that man who doesn’t like mowing, but who mows for other–that is beautiful!
Awe! I agree. It is often inspiring to do for others what you don’t want to do for yourself. Like cooking. It’s always more fun to cook ‘for’ someone. 🙂
“made bigger
by my avoidance,
made insurmountable
by my retreat
made into suffering
by my
clinging or denial”
This is so, so true!!!! And I’m realizing this more and more lately. Very timely, as I was just discussing this general idea, but here it is, written in a different way than I’d thought of it, and this is very striking and thought provoking. I resolve to keep plugging away at things in bits and pieces, not avoiding them. From housework to Big Issues. Amazing poem!!
Thank you, Meg and all…
I have been touched so many times by the way the themes from the week “assigned” by Kathie, wind up being the very work in front of me, or the very joy, or both at once! As you say, sometimes it is just beginning again, plugging away, and knowing that our small steps back are only temporary, as we renew our resolve!
love january