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"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather my spark burn out in a brilliant blaze than be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy, permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." ~Jack London

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Every Passing Minute Is Another Chance To Turn It All Around



It’s been a strange four weeks. I’ve had so much difficulty adjusting to home again, but am finally starting to feel more at ease. My life is beginning to fall back into place, or at the very least, I’m beginning to fall back into it. No, I think it’s more than that. I think I finally decided to take control of it, to step up and demand from the universe the kind of life I want for myself. I think I’m making the change I’ve been passively waiting for.

I rearranged my apartment and at long last put up the posters that have been sitting in the corner for months now. It’s starting to feel much more like the home I had envisioned for myself. It’s starting to feel much more like a reflection of me. My living room is filled with Buddha statues and prayer flags and drums and all of the quintessential hippie wealth I’ve collected over the years. It’s a nice place to be.

Maybe that’s all I’ve really been needing this past month, just a nice place to sit and think and write. Maybe all I’ve needed was a little inspiration.

And I’ve found it. Somewhere along the lines I found it. This weekend is going to include a nice trip to Trader Joe’s, the plant store, and hours upon hours of work in my garden. I think I need that. I need to feel my hands in the earth, fill my kitchen with organic foods, find that connection with the natural world I’ve been missing so desperately. My frustration hasn’t derived from being out of the environment I felt so comfortable in. It’s been my inability to see that I can create the same world here. I can be the same me here, if I choose to be. I can be the me I was so fearful of leaving behind in India. I’m still her. I’m still me.

And I’ll always be. There is no turning back. There’s only this, this moment right now, and the moment about to come, and all of the moments to follow. The future is waiting and I’m taking control of it, even if I have yet to determine any kind of destination. That somehow seems a less significant decision. All that I know for certain is that I can only take what has happened and create from it something new, something extraordinary.

That’s the plan for now, to make of each moment all that I can, to take hold of life and enjoy it as best I can, to laugh and love and live to the fullest. What else could possibly matter?

My best friend has FINALLY returned home from China after ten months. It was so wonderful to see him last night, and I think it awakened within me the motivation I’ve needed to be joyful again. I was worried I had lost that somewhere along the way.

But today, the universe seemed to once again vibrate with the kind of magic I so often feel. The purple flowers on the hillside beside my car never looked so lovely. Life stirred within me and around me. Everything is going to be okay, I thought. Everything is going to be just fine.

And it will be. Because I am me. Because I’ll always be me. Because this is my life and I refuse to let it pass without enjoyment. After all, that’s what these moments are for.

7 comments:

tara dawn said...

Your spirit shines through these words...I'm so happy to feel you, the one and only Frankie, emanating from your writing. I can imagine it has been quite difficult adjusting to being back home...but you are doing it girl...you are going beyond and creating your own space that reflects you...living your life for you! You continue to be such an inspiration to me!
Love to you sweet girl,
TD

gkgirl said...

what you say is so true...
we are who we are
no matter where we are...
it just takes more effort
on our part sometimes
to bring it out...

thanks for reminding me of that...
and for sharing a post
so earnest and real
:)

hollibobolli said...

I love that - you're right.. you are the same you, no matter where you are. It's very important to remember that, and it's a part of becoming at peace with yourself.

I am SO pleased to read that your best friend came back from China!! You must be just ecstatic!!! Hooray!!!!

M said...

This is brilliant, sums it all up so beautifully. I think that's a huge lesson we all need to lear- we are there, wherever we go, and we can choose to be the best version of ourselves no matter what. Thanks for the reminder- and I hope you had fun in the garden!

Annie Z said...

Hi Frankie,
I am so glad that you are discovering how to incorporate the "new" you into the "old" one. I always knew you would!! 4 weeks isn't a very long time to make the kind of adjustment you are making. So, I think you are doing amazingly well!!!!!!!
Love,
JTL
xxx

Annie Z said...

woops, I meant to say the "new" you into the "old" world. :):)

MB said...

Frankie, I'm very glad to hear these things from you. I am sure you are very happy to have your friend home from China! One of the things having a child taught me (I wish I hadn't waited that long to learn it!) was that life really does move in phases, things have their natural time frames, and up and down phases move in sequence and neither lasts forever which is both "good" and "bad". But in the end, I often can now take comfort in that knowledge — knowing when I'm in a difficult phase that I can have the faith that eventually, in its own time, things will sort out and I'll be on to the next phase. It doesn't make everything easier, but it's one small source of comfort. But you're making it through this understandably difficult transition and are ready to look again for the joy! I'm so glad! xo