Walking the Walk
From Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions:
I just remembered the other day a weekend …
when I was seven or eight
and my older brother was nine or ten.
He had this huge report on birds due in school
and hadn’t even started it,
but he had tons of bird books around
and binder paper and everything.
He was just too overwhelmed, though.
And I remember my dad
sitting down with him at the dining table
and putting his hands sternly on my brother’s shoulders
and saying quietly,
patiently,
“Bird by bird, buddy;
just take it bird by bird.”
That is maybe the best … advice I have ever heard.
— — —
A gift that has come in the wake of the many unexpected turns Dave’s and my summer has taken is its unceasing invitation to ‘just take it bird by bird.’
Across the Atlantic in France, my friend Simone, an artist I met online about eight years ago through her compelling art, is several weeks into a pilgrimage she has long dreamed of, solo hiking the GR10, a trail that crosses France from the Mediterranean coast to the Atlantic coast and runs almost entirely through the Pryenees. She, too, is invited repeatedly to ‘take it bird by bird.’
Of course, life invites us all to be in each moment, no matter the circumstances. We need but RSVP yes by yes.
after a photo taken by Simone on the GR10
7 x 7″; acrylic, latex, pencil, and ink on sketchbook paper
abstract landscape
2023
=====
10 responses to “Walking the Walk”
I so needed this lesson today! Thank you Dotty. I have been procrastinating the last few days. Putting off a daunting task. But there you go, I just need to start, and do a little, then a little more, and so on. (Duh, Sheila.) And your lovely wildflowers are so inviting! They are worth the climb! Haha.
I stayed “outside” for a long while. Taking in the sun, the marks, the sway. Looking up into the promising shade trees and the sky beyond. Delightful! ( WOW, I checked out Simone’s blog. Amazing! :))I needed the lesson, too—hence, the post! Starting is so key, and staying present to the one and only step we’re taking in a given moment which, of course, opens the door to a next step.
Loved your comment: ‘worth the climb’! Thank you, Sheila.
Simone’s GR10 hike is indeed amazing. Glad you visited her blog.
Liked by 1 person
Wow, what an undertaking! Beautiful painting. Everything leads to the path and what’s around the corner. In Hebrew we have the expression para para. Para is a cow. “Cow cow” connotes “Cow after cow.” In other words,“ One thing at a time.” It refers to how cows are milked in the old kibbutz refet (“cowshed”). They are let into the milking shed one cow at a time (Para para). Each day as it comes, be WELL!
Liked by 1 person
Carol, clapping my hands in delight at para para. Thank you!
No comments:
Post a Comment