JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

(Note: I started writing this piece on Saturday the 18th but it us still valid and so is my gratitude!)

It’s cold enough outside to freeze a paper cup of water into ice ()the girls tried it as an experiment), cold enough that the flowers refuse to open in the afternoon and some have fallen and wilted this weekend, so cold the sunshine doesn’t tempt us to go outside and bask in its light. Yet the tulips have emerged, green arrowheads rising in the dirt, the tall daffodil stems announce the arrival and the yellow and purple crocus proclaim spring is coming.

And on this cold day, it was spring cleaning I did, polishing places in the house that hadn’t been polished in a while (furniture polish makes me feel ill), dusting, wiping, scrubbing, organizing.

It’s a time of cleaning. A time of new. A strange time of transition perhaps, complicated by confusion, but a time of change.

I’m grateful to everyone who has emailed and commented in this past week, reminding me of community and reminding me why I’m here in this place called the blogosphere. Thanks. Thanks for your care, companionship and comraderie. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

I felt better from the moment I published the post describing the theft. Was it that I had notifed any readers and released myself from the guilt of my absence, my responsibility to blog and email? Was it the expression of my emotions? Was it the sense that I was not alone? I don’t know. But I’m grateful. This week was a busy and bumpy one, but at this point the big piece remaining is getting a replacement computer for me, and the insurance hoops for that.

Sometimes I feel frustrated, when I wish I could do a task online as I remember it. I am not used to restricting my computer time to the end of the day. I keep a list with paper and pencil on my desk of the tasks I will do at 10 pm.

Then again there is freedom in everything. And as a few commenters have mentioned, I will grow and learn from this experience. I do feel lighter. I have opportunity to examine my use of the internet, email and blogs and to make changes.To try different paths and ways of living online. It’s a season of cleaning, spring cleaning. It’s a bit chilty and a bit scary but it feels good. It’s a new feeling, a new season to savor. Thanks!