I am writing from Holly Colorado. I am sitting on the second floor (corner room) with a lovely window that rounds what would typically be a square corner. Since I am working that makes this a CORNER OFFICE! I. Have. Arrived.
Looking out I see other buildings, like mine from the mid 1800s and all the inner corners facing the cross streets are rounded. It is quite lovely.
It was also disorienting during the night trying to find the bed in a room with five walls instead of four. I was the thing that went bump in the night.
This morning I am brewing PG Tips tea in a clear water bottle sitting on my corner window ledge. It won’t be ready until this afternoon, but today I am not participating in the rat race.
Today I will not scurry. Rats scurry. People, while more than a few are rat-like, ought not to scurry. Nothing good comes from the scurry.
For the past month I have been scurrying. Yes, I finished three paintings, but the scurry did not get them done. Actually, IF I had avoided the scurry I am certain that at least one more would be complete and possibly one or two more. Scurry shuts down the brain’s ability to truly prioritize.
The urgent obliterates the important.
I KNOW this and yet….
Today I am on my way to Denver to spend time at the Denver Art Museum (DAM) and the Stills Museum next door. Maybe some Red Rock hiking. We will see. We will see. Instead of scurrying out and speed (not speeding!) towards Denver I decided to sit down. I am sitting in my simple corner room and watching my tea begin its slow brew.
It is quiet except for the occasional passing pick up truck. The sunshine is nice. Breathing is nice.
(Wow, that last pick up had a muffler!)
Carley Hughes, our priest at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Worth, challenged us to take 30 seconds- just THIRTY SECONDS- five times a day and be still. I wanted to do it. I was certain I could do it.
I have not done it yet.
It has been two weeks. TODAY I am taking my 2 1/2 minutes to just be still. Maybe I’ll talk to God. Maybe I will just listen. Maybe I will just be.
My art comes from connecting with the world around me. From readi
ng. From journaling. From connecting disparate ideas and concepts. I can’t do that scurrying. I have to be still. In my mad dash to “get it all done,” to “do it right,” TO JUSTIFY MAKING ART I have cut myself off from the joy of what I do and who I was created to be.
Scurrying is not good for anyone. 
It is not good for me.
It is not good for my family.
It is not good for my art.
It is not good for my community.
I wager that it is not good for you.
Give Carley’s challenge a go this week.
Thirty seconds, morning, meals, bedtime.
Find two and a half minutes to connect with yourself and your greater purpose.
A purpose beyond politics.
Time to check out. (Literally, it is check-out time at the inn.)
PEACE!