Another Step

I had a great day yesterday. I was reminded that life is a roller coaster, and you never know what you are going to get (the metaphor "box of chocolates" also comes to mind here). Sometimes you look forward to something and it ends up not going well, and the reverse is also true. It's part of what makes life challenging but also interesting. For all of our planning, there is a reckless element of excitement to every single day we are alive, and it's fun to embrace that spirit of adventure.

Weather helps too. The annual miracle of spring never fails to move even the most cynical of people to joy, hope and inspiration. New life and growth is all around us in the spring. After a winter of hibernation, we emerge into the sunlight, blinking and looking around at each other. Everything seems possible, even probable, and there is a surge of goodwill toward our fellow man/woman.

Yesterday was like that for me. I got outside, and walked with my kids, and played at the playground (they played, I sat on a rock and visited with friends). My spirit soared, just doing ordinary things, because it was twenty degrees and gorgeous outside. I slowed down after a busy week and thoroughly enjoyed a sense of leisure.

In the late afternoon I received an e-mail titled, "You are officially published in Pages of Stories!" I went immediately to the website to read the first magazine, and it was a real thrill to see my story in print. You can read it at Pages of Stories. My story is on page 19 of the magazine, and it's called 'June 18th'. After this first issue, you'll have to pay to download the magazine, but the first one is free. Simply click on Current Issues, create a profile with your e-mail address and a password, and then you can view the first issue for free.

It was fun to send the link to my family and friends and have them celebrate this small success with me. Every step toward a dream is an important one. Enjoying each building block as it comes is fun and it all leads to the place I want to go. I feel grateful, excited, hopeful and satisfied with this writing process. Thanks to all of you for sharing in it with me, the good and the bad. It means a lot to me.

I finished the day with our first-ever Mom's group evening mixer. It was as if we left the "day" versions of ourselves at home and emerged with a slightly wilder, more fun "evening" edition of our personalities. We laughed, a lot, and enjoyed each other's company without any interruptions or clock-watching because it was time to get our kids. We just drank decaf, ate dessert, told stories, laughed, and got to enjoy ourselves and each other as adults. Not moms or wives, simply ourselves. It was a wonderful end to a memorable day.