Free-Falling! 11-4-2012

This is a somewhat progressive blog. Feel FREE to begin by clicking to my first post: Boologging Begins

I am on a self-imposed, open-ended sabbatical from work. After 20 years, I’m FREE…of the morning grind of getting up at the ideal time to eat, dress, fight traffic, and arrive to work just before everyone else for that valued, close parking spot. After resigning my long-term position, I felt akin to October 2012’s Australian daredevil Fearless Felix during his out of control spin: Do I push that button and stay alive or fight the whole way down and break the speed of sound?

I have fought for the last 5 months to control my 56-year “spin;” I diligently worked through childhood issues to obtain closure by writing my historical, cathartic memoir and my breast cancer journey. Now I begin free-fall blogging. A topic has been spinning in the back of my mind for months that I will slowly develop over the next 2 months.

I drove to Chicago last week to visit family. The 9-hour drive can be lonely, so I purchased the 6-hour audio book, Lincoln, by David Herbert Donald, to accompany me in the car. Young teen Abraham Lincoln performed years of exhausting, slave-like labor for his aging father. His father even hired him out and kept Abe’s earnings. A PBS special theorizes that his back-breaking teen experiences compelled Lincoln to diligently fight to emancipate the slaves. He understood their plight and empathized with them.

My childhood compels me…to explore the sensitive topic of personal freedom.

A couple of weeks ago this grandma was thinking about bringing a small gift to Chicago for her one and only grandchild who loves Thomas the Train. Using an almost FREE thrift store purchase, an off-brand carrying case shaped like a train, I’m thinking about creating a fold-up track mat to store inside the case. Would a trimmed, folded Twister mat fit? How would I draw the tracks onto the mat? Should I instead go to Jo Ann’s Fabrics to buy Thomas fabric?

As I pondered at the dinette table, I noticed the murkiness of the backyard’s bird bath water. It was days since the water had been refreshed. I step outside and turn on the garden hose. This year we purchased one of those curly hoses to prevent kinking. It actually is almost kink-proof, but I learned the hard way to not forget to turn the water off at the spigot lest holes pop through the seams and flood the porch. Good! The birds have fresh water.

The next order of business for that day was to dress for treadmill walking as train track thoughts still chugged through my mind. Years ago I resourcefully created a crude treadmill desktop from its own packing material. It takes concentration and coordination to read and walk at the same time. It’s like patting your head and rubbing your stomach simultaneously. My invention works for this budding, multi-tasking blogger. I walked and re-read an article that a couple of months ago nurtured blogging thoughts.

Guess what free-will analogies are used in the article…a train on a track and also a kink in a garden hose. Aha!! It’s almost like that article followed that day’s thoughts. Warming into this FREE-fall adventure has been cautiously slow. I’m very responsible. When I commit to something, I do it, with my heart and soul.

In 2010 (encouraged by my husband) I resolved to post a Facebook photo a day for an entire year, to enhance my photography skills (today’s blog picture is from 2010). I was accountable to my Facebook friends to keep that resolution. I never realized the hours of labor that resolution would demand. On one hand I loved it; on the other hand I felt immeasurable freedom on January 1, 2011 when the daily, creative expectations were released.

I’m more careful with this resolution. Daily blogging is out of the question. That could feel like bondage and abrogate my sabbatical FREEDOM… I ELECT to post on my blog site once or twice a week until the end of the year; that is more realistic.

Gift #3 for which I am grateful: The FREEDOM to vote on Tuesday, November 6^th.

On Wednesday, November 7^th, Post-Election Day, I will post a Presidential entry that segues into a gingerly peek into my family background …Deo Volente!