So far, the artist dates are my favorite part of AW. A scheduled date with just me. And a time when I have to stop my usual patterns and do something different. Get out of the house. Take a pause when I am working. Think of myself. Let go of answering the phone, email, pleasing everyone else.
This week I went to the zoo. One of my favorite things is to just stand and watch the sea otters play, swim, eat. I could watch them for hours. My heart fills with joy and I feel lighter as I watch them. I envy their ability to swim, float, play, tease, share, pause and groom one another. The laughter bubbles inside me and flows out in a giggle as the daughter otter steals food from her mother. Over and over. The mother tries to teach her to share by giving her a bite but eventually the daughter wins and takes the entire piece of food. I have to stop myself from talking out loud to them (well, I must admit that I do when no one is around).
I did not accomplish the morning pages every day. And I really appreciated that others were honest about this on their blogs - this was harder this week. I did do them four out of seven days. And I will keep going. I see the benefit to the extent that I am kind of afraid of them. This may be silly, I know.
As I looked back through AW on Friday, I was stopped short by Cameron's section on attention. The way she wrote about her grandmother. The tears came to the surface in the middle of the cafe where my husband and I were sitting. Partly because of the letters, notes, and cards I have from my grandmother, but also because I am beginning to notice that I am finally paying attention in my own life. This began to happen before these two weeks of AW, probably when I started my blog last fall, and AW is reinforcing this. I feel like I am awake. Awake in my own life for the first time in a long time.
Good morning.
