Dr. BrenĂ© Brown and Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks were the final keynote speakers at the conference I attended last weekend. It was the last of a series of meetings/sessions that I found leaving me with a personal challenge…
During her keynote, BrenĂ© Brown said something that stirred me, “We focus so much on seeking the extraordinary… We pass right over the ordinary & lose sight of the beauty of that.” It stirred me because this is something that, as a mom of young (but not as young as they used-to-be) children… I have been realizing I often miss the beauty of the ordinary as I plow through life, more specifically — through motherhood.
The concept she shared was not new to me… no. Rather, it has been something weighing heavily on my heart, mind and emotions… as these past number of months have flipped the pages of my life to new chapters… not just new paragraphs.
As she spoke, my mind scrolled through memories. Just days before leaving for this conference I defied all laws of time-efficiency — to observe the extraordinary in my ordinary life. I was busy. I had so much to do. I nearly rushed by thinking, “I don’t have time for a silly picture… I don’t have time to watch this. There will be another time…” But my heart stopped me. I realized “extraordinary” was gently blowing it’s sweet wind , and I need to pause to breathe it in…
What I took the time to breathe in may not be extraordinary to you. It looks and feels different to each individual. During the keynote that Saturday night, this is the image that my mind kept stopping on:
Summer 2010
My kids have a summer tradition. They sit on the porch, eat ice cream, and giggle. This is MY extraordinary. My own children. Eating ice cream. On the porch. Connecting with each other… Building. Bonding. Making a mess. Laughing.
Summer 2008
Even before Lucy joined our family…
Spring 2005
Now I turn it to you. Not to enter to win a contest… not even to leave a comment here… but to encourage you to see your extraordinary. Take the time in the next week to slow down, if even for a few moments, to observe. Your own extraordinary… It is there. I am certain. It is either blowing at you gently, tapping on your shoulder, pulling at your apron strings… perhaps even blowing with gale force. I’d love to read your story.
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