I am...

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”

Lao Tzu

This week I’m stumped, struggling to contribute to this blog. This has been a week of the mundane. Nothing earth-shattering has occurred, no revelations have been triggered, no drama has made its entrance. My kids are tucked comfortably into a daily summer routine and I’m finding myself in a place that is quite comfortable, content and peaceful.

The humidity of summer thickens the air…adds to the Cricket’s cacophonic celebration of dusk, the flash of lightening bugs and heat lightening play symphony with the rumbling thunder, booming in the distance. Times like these are few and far between. I find that as I grow older this kind of space doesn’t “just happen”. I’ve got to make it happen. I’ve got to intentionally slow down the day, dim the noise and honor the moment.

I’m drawn to these moments most in the summertime. The heat that has settled in throughout the day lifts as the sun sets. It is then that I am magically pulled toward my front porch… to sit, listen and be.

Last night my daughter Helen joined me. We sat together for the longest time and then we just started talking, about nothing much. Just…stuff. Somewhere over the course of an hour, our conversation moved toward the following exchange.

Helen: “If you had only one word you could use to fill in this blank what would it be.
I am _______________.”

Me: “That’s a toughie. I am so much, Helen; it will be hard to narrow it down to one word.”

Helen: “But that’s what makes it fun and hard at the same time. You have to!”

We played around with the words for a long, long time. I finally settled in on “I am accepting.” Helen landed on “I am myself.”

Where would you land? What would be your word? Please let me know by filling in in the comment section below. Let's see what each of us bring to this day