December Devotion/9

Today, I found devotion in a few places.

  • Mittens staying devoted to me (and well, to sleeping - she's quite devoted to that) all day while I was home sick in bed.
  • Adam's devotion in the form of soup, good bread warmed up with butter, and grated cheese on top (yesterday for dinner).
  • The devotion of Lorelei and Rory for one another (is that a stretch? Probably). I used to watch the Gilmore Girls when I was at St. Thomas University, a million years ago, and just this week started watching the series from the beginning, on Netflix. Time flies. I'm hoping that I'll finish up all seven seasons just before the new season comes out... I'm only in season 1 now, so there is hope.

December Devotion/8

After Saturday, there was Sunday. 

And on Sunday, the weather was beautiful.

I got out of the house, and out of the neighbourhood. I drove out to Sydney Mines, and walked along Florence Beach. 

I stayed devoted to fresh air, to my own deep need to walk in the air, to see the ocean. To hear the beach sounds. To play with light and shadow. 

December Devotion/7

Me, hopeful, before I started trying to curl my hair on Saturday.

Me, hopeful, before I started trying to curl my hair on Saturday.

I took a break over the weekend from writing these December Devotion posts, because, well, I am human.

And humans need regular breaks from things. Like work. And projects. And other people. 

Breaks are good. You could say this is the overarching, reoccurring lesson of my life. From my Big Depression in university in 2007, to just managing the day-to-day needs of human life, breaks are good is something I forget about with alarming frequency. And then, remember, more often than I used to. So at least, I'm learning, somewhat.

And again, I'm human, so that's the best we can do, I think. To learn, somewhat, as we go through this life business. 

The weekend was, among other things, an opportunity to re-learn that phrase, "Man plans, God laughs." It was the staff Christmas party at my work. My boyfriend Adam really does not like going out to social events like that, where he's totally out of his comfort zone. You could call him an introvert, you could call him socially anxious, although he doesn't call himself those things. He just says, "No," when I ask him to come out to things. So anyway, I'd been asking him for weeks if he would come with me to this. He's never met my co-workers, and I've been there for a year and a half now. I really wanted him to come. He kept saying, "We'll see," and "I really don't want to go." 

"I know," I'd say, "But just this once?"

"We'll see," he'd say.

The night before the party, I asked him to commit. I got upset. I said, "I hate going to these things alone," which is partially true. It's also not: I don't super mind. 

We fought. He said, "I've told you all along I don't want to go!" 

"Yes, but you also said, 'we'll see'!" I said.

And back and forth like that for a while. 

Anyway, long story short, in the end he came with me. But I had had it in my head that we would have this wonderful, date-night-like, sparkly, glamorous evening, where I would look fabulous and we would be in our best couple-shape: cozy, intimate, witty, in love. 

And, I had decided to try and do this vintage style with my hair. But my hair wouldn't take the curl, and I'm only very new to using a curling iron anyway. 

That afternoon, when I still wasn't sure Adam was coming (even though he had said he would), and my hair wasn't doing what I had wanted it to, I got frustrated as heck, and went for a long walk in the field and woods near our house. I cried. I texted my friend and ranted to her about why life was so unfair at this particular moment. I took some pictures. I cried a bit more. And I realized, I needed to just go with it. So what if I my hair wasn't pin-up-worthy. So what if Adam was grumpy with me, and me with him. 

One of the pretty photos I took while out on my walk.

One of the pretty photos I took while out on my walk.

In the end, it was what it was. Adam was there in protest, but he still got along and made jokes with the people we sat with. I looked perfectly fine, even if I didn't achieve my pin-up hair goals. I said a few awkward things, but let's be honest, I probably would have said them anyway. We ate our stuffed chicken breasts, potatoes with gravy, corn, carrots and turnip, and laughed at other people's jokes, and then we left before the dance started. We went home, got in our PJs, and watched hockey (him) and "Gilmore Girls" (me) on the couch, while our cat snoozed on our legs. And it was good.

Anne Lamott wrote, in "Travelling Mercies," which I am reading these days, in a story where her little boy doesn't get to swim out to see some seals, as he was hoping,

"I was desperate to fix him, fix the situation, make everything happy again, and then I remembered this basic religious principle that God isn't there to take away our suffering or our pain, but to fill it with his or her presence." 

And I think that's what devotion is about, and what this weekend taught me about devotion. Devotion to a moment, staying devoted to your situation, even when it's not what you thought it would be. Looking for the presence of God in it, anyway. 

There was a layer of snow on the field. This one makes me think of the title, "What Lies Beneath," as in, the bones below the snow. 

There was a layer of snow on the field. This one makes me think of the title, "What Lies Beneath," as in, the bones below the snow. 

December Devotion/4

In this piece from 2012, titled "Devotion, stardust & the rewards of showing up: 3 lessons from 12 years of yoga," Alexandra Franzen says, 

"DEVOTION is an action, not an emotion.

Want to know what you’re devoted to? Look at your calendar. Examine how you actually spend your time, on the planet.

If you ‘can’t find the time’ for an hour of yoga, three times a week — or whatever else you say you want to do — that’s fine. Do something else. Check your email. Fly a kite. Learn to crochet. Host a tea party. But don’t kid yourself — it’s tiresome. Be honest about what you’re devoted to."

In this piece from 2013, titled "On Flakiness & devotion," she writes,

"With a modicum of self-inquiry and honesty (“Can I really devote to this? Do I really want this? Can I really afford this?”) we can avoid 99.9% of eventual flakedom.

The next three times I want to flake out … I won’t. (...) Because devotion is wildly sexy."

December Devotion/3

There I am, in the middle of that photo! Can you see me? I'm seated at an upright bench, in the middle of the gym, in what used to be, for me, the scariest part of the gym, the part in front of the mirrors where all the Serious Weightlifters work out.

And now I lift weights alongside them, and watch my form in the mirror, and I'm actually watching my form and going "damn girl!" instead of feeling super self-conscious about my body and wishing parts of it were smaller.

Part of that is that certain parts have gotten smaller. But part of it is also that now I'm proud of the strength I've built up. 

This past year, since June, I've devoted myself to learning to lift weights. (You can read the whole story in this post from last month, about why I started, how I've done it, and how it makes me feel.)

This last month, I've been devoting time to eating better, too... eating as fuel for my lifts. I'll post about that sometime this month, as it deserves its own post.

 

December Devotion/2

Does devotion look like a mustard jar? Or a sandwich, at 6:30 am? 

Or a bagel with cream cheese?

I think it does. Every morning, I wake up when Adam does at 6:30, and he goes and gets ready in the bathroom. I go out to the kitchen and pour him a cup of coffee. Then I make his breakfast. He comes out of the bathroom and sits down, and eats breakfast, while I make his lunch. 

I've been doing this for nearly four years. 

I wonder to myself, if and when we have children, will this change? I imagine it will. But for now, it is our daily routine. It is an example of devotion. It is simple, and real, and wholly love.  

December Devotion/1

The idea to do something for December, here on my blog, came to me last month sometime. I don't remember exactly when. I just felt the need to go inward a bit for December, felt the need to do something daily, something devoted.

Then I got a newsletter from the lovely Mara Glatzel, and at the bottom, she talked about a virtual retreat she was holding in December called "Glitter and Devotion." And it was just like, yeah. That's what I need. (So I signed up.)

And the word "Devotion" wouldn't leave me, ever since.

So, I googled it. A "daily devotional" is a publication that provides a specific spiritual reading for each calendar day - which is something I didn't know. Most other links having to do with "daily devotional" are Christian in nature. I am not Christian. I am, however, somewhat spiritual.

So, what the hell. "Devotion" it is! I'm calling it December Devotion. A bit of writing, or art, or something, each day of the month of December, with something to do with devotion.

I want to think about... what we devote ourselves to. What grows, as a result. Why we devote ourselves to things -- what passion, what love? 

I also like the idea of daily readings, and may perhaps dip into books in my own personal library for bits of random wisdom here and there. 

We shall see! Check back in tomorrow.

xo, Leah