So there I was on Sunday night and I had that sort of anxious catch inside of me, that feeling that SOMETIME later that evening my very-missed Boy would be home but no time soon so in the meanwhile it was tv and fretting when suddenly there was a clatter in the kitchen and there he was, home hours earlier than I'd expected.
You know that feeling, when your child's been gone and suddenly they're back and it feels like your eyes can't even SEE them enough? Oh, I was pretty happy.
He had fun, too - his grandmother took him cherry picking and to a play and to visit his great-grandfather, who built a ship model with him and took him fishing AND to the dump to see the bears. Great-Grandpa is a fairly amazing fellow and The Boy had a grand old time.
In all my ranting about Eat Pray Love the other day, I forgot probably my most important reason that I think that it's a harmful book - the sacred isn't away from you, isn't someplace else and hard to get at. You don't need a special room in your house, don't need a trip to India. The sacred is here all the time, is in a pie made for you by your grandmother of cherries you picked that morning, is in the dock you stand on with your 90 year old great-grandfather in the early morning mist as the loons fly calling overhead, is in the (rather terrible) haircut your great-aunt gives you, and is DEFINITELY in the sudden dash you make to the kitchen when you hear your child's voice.
26 comments:
Brilliant. I love this. You got it exactly right.
So True.
Amen
I've never been away from my kids for longer than a night but I can imagine that feeling. Perhaps you should send this post to Elizabeth Gilbert and illuminate on the point of life. I wonder if she would get it.
LOVE this post! Could not agree more.
"the sudden dash"... you got me there. My boy spends the whole summer with his dad, my ex., and I'm missing him something awful right now.
Something sacred and true doesn't require exotic trips, but it doesn't necessarily exclude them. Pilgrimages can be life-changing events.
Don't get me wrong. I get your point and think it is a profound one. Maybe some people are adventurous types, while others are nesting types, and most of us are a little of each. We need to find the beauty and the meaning in the everyday, but getting away from it on occasion is good too. For perspective.
Stacy, the sacred is in the exotic but it's not exclusively in the exotic. It's there as much as it's anywhere.
Yes. Oh lord yes.
I so agree with you on this!
=)
True. I heard a quote the other day "Joy is an inside job" and it pinged with me. Ding ding ding! Exactly. Yes, sacred is in exotic trips AND sacred is in my own backyard.
Glad your boy is home!
Golden is right. Thanks for a lovely post, Beck.
Yes, and yes yes yes. This is the sacred I understand.
Golden -- yes indeed.
I love how your parents and in-laws and older relatives help give your kids those wholesome experiences that they should be having --without you having to do it all yourself.
I am crying as I read the end of this post and THAT, my friend, is why you should NEVER stop writing. NEVER. I will shrivel up and die if you do.
You don't seem to get it. And you need to have more confidence in yourself. Be gentle with yourself. You have a rare gift. Putting that which we all see and feel in the every day, but aren't capable of putting into words properly. YOU CAN.
Every time I see the previews with Julia Roberts HA HA HA ing, I just want to scratch my eyes out for you.
Hurrah!
Yes. And yes.
So glad you wrote this.
I'm glad you have The Boy back home with you and that he had a wonderful time while away with grandparents and great-grandparents. Especially loved how you summed up this post.
Yup, kids will drive you nuts - and then make you way more sane, than you probably ever were before, and remind you(us) of what's sacred and where you can best see it.
Of course you said it way more eloquently than I'm capable of.
Thanks for that, and keep doing that some more, please.
You know the secret of life, and I think you are living it! Awesome, and I thank you for saying it so well.
I used to get that feeling when I worked, and came home to the Girl in the morning. She was just a baby then, so it was LIKE having been a way for a week. That was the only good part of being away from her.
rain before seven; fine before eleven.............................................................
Sacred, indeed.
Exactly.
It's been awhile since I've been able to get around and read, but I'm glad to see the same old words are being spun into gold over here.
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