THE WHIP OF THE TAIL

Searching for an image of how this current period of time feels it hits me in early morning. Why so tired? It’s simply from holding on through the whip of the tail.

Ungrounded. Overwhelmed. Strangers & strange noises inside (& outside) the house for hours every day. Somewhere along the way I’ve encountered a children’s story, a cartoon (COCO maybe?) or a sci-fi movie that gives me the image of a very large but very kind dragon (the little green guy on the left-cute, huh? not sooo scarey)  & his enormous tail. And I get it-that’s how it feels! Like holding on to a whipping, high-in-the sky tail as this huge “creature” we’ve created through our decisions flies through the air (with the greatest of ease). Don’t ask me how I know this.

Self-care becomes even more important at this point-essential oils, acupuncture, Healing Touch, time with friends, rest & just getting out of the house (someone has to be here all the time now) are a must.  Coming up with food is the toughest piece-by the time lunch comes around we’re too busy to leave the house for pick-up & by evening we’re too exhausted to cook or go out. Cereal & shakes get old after awhile, especially if you’re big veggie eaters.  Haven’t solved this one yet.

So I reminisce, looking at Hillsborough, my home of 14 years (Ben’s for 30), in a whole new way.  It truly is a beautiful little place. Developing into a lovely family town with Poets’ Walk, the Riverwalk, the biennial puppet parade, new sidewalks connecting old & new places, Weaver Street Market, a growing restaurant selection, outdoor dining (though I do think the restaurants grabbed up too much of the new sidewalks), old buildings repurposed (Did I tell you? If I was head of “the Building Committee”, no new buildings would be approved until all current spaces were put to use. So there!), gardens, old trees, crepe myrtles…

Wading through the “muck” of moving out of the country is layered now with unexpected renovations & repairs. Even so, with nerves on edge & deer-in-the-headlights eyes (do I bolt now? later? when??? am I safe? can I do this???), I slowly realize how much progress we’ve made, how much we’ve actually accomplished.

The steps in the notebook marked for 3 months, 2 months, 1 month, 1 week, 1 day, begin to thin out.  There are hatch marks & highlights & checkmarks on the pages.

The party is over (such fun!), important dates set, details outlined.  Our Global Entry cards came today. The sales team starts their 2 weeks of tagging & staging items for sale (October 20/21-y’all come!) on Monday.  I turned in my notice as independent contractor @ Carol Woods yesterday (November 1 is my last day).  The studio is partially cleaned up & the wall dividing the garage into storage units is nearly done.  There are still repairs pending & a new shower door to be installed.  But it will come.

More than one friend has told me we’re crazy.  We’ll see.  All I know is that as each door opens I enter in with some kind of faith that this is the path we need to be on.  The dragon’s tail is in full swing and we are holding on for Dear Life.  This too shall pass.