Change is the only thing we can count on

Just when you get comfortable, along comes change, whether or not it was invited.  Even if it's needed, desired, even requested, it's never exactly what is expected or envisioned.  Not quite the right order, but the waitress is gone and there is no sending it back. Once the Universe gets wind of change, it carries it along eagerly and mischievously.

Except that you don't want to play.  We want our old favorite, even if it's unhealthy or dangerous.  Like a grilled cheese sandwich; crispy, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth delicious, never mind the calories or cholesterol. Call the waitress, get rid of that salad!

But, while you wait, why not take a little taste, see what all the fuss is about.  The tomato is sweet, greens are refreshing and the dressing is tangy.  Interesting. Maybe you should do that thing, walk that way, ride that wave.  Maybe the weather is different, but in a not-so-bad kind of way.  The people speak slowly, but their  insight is refreshing.  And the city-well, if you could taste it you might say it was tangy, in an interesting kind of way.  .

Maybe the change means riding the wave, doing that thing, walking that way.  Maybe this was all meant to be part of it

from the very beginning, even if you still want the grilled cheese.

Another Summer

Here I am again, another summer in this furnace of a city.  Already I feel my positive energy slipping away and looking for cooler climes, listening for the whisper of waves.  I should be accustomed to this by now, my twelfth year in this unforgiving place, yet I am not.  What will it take for me to get through these midyear months?  The thought of escape, or the practice of mindfulness, putting one foot in front of the other, or knowing that each minute passing is one I can bear?  I will try to appreciate what I can, and know that I can get through, and remember those places that nourish me.