Dear Friends ~ As a person who carries a lot of anxiety, I often find comfort in the amorphous, gray, quiet moments at dawn. Passing out of sleep's depths and just before rejoining the clamor of everyday life, my senses are clear and heightened. At the threshold of the day, I feel more courage to notice the world around me and more ready to engage in the present moment.
I've come to appreciate how our inner lives tend to mirror the physical cycle of morning into day into night and back into morning; when the soul emerges from periods of rest and dormancy to revel in those threshold moments that usher us into new energy and vibrancy: Awakening.
The author Kate DiCamillo recently shared a story on social media about an interaction with a young reader that roused her in this interior sense: This morning I woke up thinking about a fifth-grade boy who came through a signing line at a bookstore... He said, "My teacher said fifth grade is the year of asking questions...Every day we’re supposed to ask someone different a good question and listen really good and then write down the answer when they’re done talking... My question is how do you get all that hope into your stories?"
"That’s not a good question," I said. "That’s a great question ... I guess that writing the story is an act of hope, and so even when I don’t feel hopeful, writing the story can lead me to hope. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah," he said..."It’s kind of a long answer. But I can write it all out. Thanks."
He walked away — writing in his notebook...Why did I wake up this morning and think of this child? Maybe because this is a time to start asking good questions, a time to write down the answers, a time to listen to each other really well. I’m going to get myself a little spiral bound notebook. I’m going to listen and hope.
Here at the cusp of spring- the dawn of the year- we can wake from winter's depths with sharper vision and renewed energy. We can carry the gifts we received from dark rest into the light of day. We can remember to listen. We can remember to hope. ~ Joy