I love so much about this post, but especially the both/and of it’s hard/it’s a gift. Growing is so very uncomfortable in my experience. I love the way you are looking for the invitations in this season. 💜
Thanks for the encouragement friend. Quotes from your post from last week came to mind while I was writing this...about becoming more of who we are meant to be...about letting down the armor.
I’ve had these feelings so many times, and you’ve laid out the conundrum beautifully. Isn’t it nice to have some life to look back on (I think we’re at a similar life stage/age) and see that God has jammed our days with so much goodness that we have to take it in turns? And the hard stuff layers in there, too, of course. But He spreads a table for us, cycles in margin and intensity, and gives us life abundant.
May you find joy in this particular intensity, and may this theater season be creative fuel for whatever is next!
This is really beautifully put, Tresta. Love the framework of God spreading the table and the cycles of margin and intensity. And thank you for calling out the possibility of finding joy in this particular intensity. I think I'll add that too my prayers as one step past staying put in the discomfort. Even if it's only in moments.
And yes we're in a similar stage of life (though I don't have any grandchildren in sight yet. Sigh.)
I absolutely feel both of these (as I type one handed with the most adorable human who has stolen all my margin and brain cells!)
I hope you have a wonderful production. I have lots of fond memories of pit orchestra and musicals, and some funny ones from college with truly eccentric opera professors 🫣
I thought of you and my earlier days of parenting when I wrote this. "I get to" doesn't always work for me, sometimes it sounds too much like "at least". Like plastering over the frustration, discomfort, and exhaustion with forced gratitude. For whatever reason it's worked for me in this season. I feel like you do a good job of offering up the both/and of being a mom and reminding yourself and others that ALL the feelings are valid and deserve some space.
I love that you have fond memories of those performances. My students are delightful. And they also have no idea that what we're about to do is a lot of fun AND a lot of work.
I love so much about this post, but especially the both/and of it’s hard/it’s a gift. Growing is so very uncomfortable in my experience. I love the way you are looking for the invitations in this season. 💜
Thanks for the encouragement friend. Quotes from your post from last week came to mind while I was writing this...about becoming more of who we are meant to be...about letting down the armor.
I’ve had these feelings so many times, and you’ve laid out the conundrum beautifully. Isn’t it nice to have some life to look back on (I think we’re at a similar life stage/age) and see that God has jammed our days with so much goodness that we have to take it in turns? And the hard stuff layers in there, too, of course. But He spreads a table for us, cycles in margin and intensity, and gives us life abundant.
May you find joy in this particular intensity, and may this theater season be creative fuel for whatever is next!
This is really beautifully put, Tresta. Love the framework of God spreading the table and the cycles of margin and intensity. And thank you for calling out the possibility of finding joy in this particular intensity. I think I'll add that too my prayers as one step past staying put in the discomfort. Even if it's only in moments.
And yes we're in a similar stage of life (though I don't have any grandchildren in sight yet. Sigh.)
I get to!… and I miss my margin.
I absolutely feel both of these (as I type one handed with the most adorable human who has stolen all my margin and brain cells!)
I hope you have a wonderful production. I have lots of fond memories of pit orchestra and musicals, and some funny ones from college with truly eccentric opera professors 🫣
I thought of you and my earlier days of parenting when I wrote this. "I get to" doesn't always work for me, sometimes it sounds too much like "at least". Like plastering over the frustration, discomfort, and exhaustion with forced gratitude. For whatever reason it's worked for me in this season. I feel like you do a good job of offering up the both/and of being a mom and reminding yourself and others that ALL the feelings are valid and deserve some space.
I love that you have fond memories of those performances. My students are delightful. And they also have no idea that what we're about to do is a lot of fun AND a lot of work.
Aimee, thanks for this nudge toward going out on a limb a bit more. A good stretch toward something creative is good for the soul ...
Yes! I love that we get to do that in this shared space, Linda...spur one another on to acts of creative courage!