Friday Five

For today's Friday Five, tell us about your times of release or detachment (freedom!).....


It happened many years ago, but the feeling of freedom and release that I experienced when my (then) husband and I packed up the children and all our worldly possessions and moved to a remote ranch in the middle of the windswept prairie remains with me to this day when I think of being detached.  After being very much caught up in the stresses and deadlines of city life for more than 30 years, the feeling of freedom was overwhelming.  I remember waking up that first morning on the ranch with the whole day stretching out in front of me like a blank page of paper.  Of course it didn't last, all too soon, we were caught up in all the activities of rural life, school buses, community meetings, assisting neighbours, agricultural politics, etc. etc.  But I still remember the feeling of freedom that came from waking to discover that the day was waiting for me to write upon it what I would wish.


Today, is my day off.  I've been very sick all week and suspect that I'm still contagious so even though I'm feeling much better, I'm going to spend the day just "puttering" around the house.  In some ways I am experiencing that same sense of release and freedom from the need to do that I felt those many years ago when the day stretched out in front of me like the blue prairie sky.


How do I find release in the following ways?


1. physical -  in the water!  One of the advantages of a higher fat to muscle ratio is that you float!  For me there is nothing quite as physically freeing as playing around in the water, whether it be deep water aerobics, or (the very best) snorkelling in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico with my RevGal Pals.


2. spiritual - walking in nature, meditating with prayer beads, painting icons  

3. emotional - writing and/or talking with dear and trusted friends

4. vocational - I find that ministry offers me the much the same opportunity to experience the freedom I experienced on the ranch.  As single pastor at St. Teeny Church, I pretty well get to organize my day the way I want to.  However, that doesn't mean that I'm not busy, I have a propensity to overbook myself and to take on far too much.  So, I try to book at least one or two periods a week where I can sit down with a good book and read.


5. relationships -  This isn't a problem.  I am single, and live alone, and as a strong introvert, it is easy for me to simply come home, pull the blinds down and retreat into the world I've made for myself.