What Caught My Attention

Before we get into this week's blog...

People ask me why I use so many metaphors.

There's a reason for that.

I've always understood things better when I can connect something unfamiliar to something I already understand.

Once I see the pattern... I understand it.

Ready?

Here's what caught my attention over the last couple of weeks.

At the time, none of it seemed connected.

It was just a bunch of little moments that made me stop for a second.

Looking back... They were all trying to tell the same story

---

I've had about three different blog ideas over the last week and a half.

None of them felt right.

Every time I'd sit down to write...

life happened.

Laundry.

Dishes.

Readings.

Workshops.

Answering emails.

Then I got sick.

I'd write a little.

Walk away.

Come back.

Still wasn't it.

Some weeks are just like that.

The other day I watched this random video of someone cleaning old bricks.

I don't know why that one stuck with me.

It just did.

They used soda.

Years of dirt and gunk disappeared.

Suddenly you could see details that had been there the whole time.

That made me stop for a second.

Sometimes all it takes is looking at something a little differently.

Wipe away a little dirt.

See what catches your attention this time.

After that I was texting with a friend.

I happened to look up from my front porch and took a picture of the clouds.

I sent it to her.

Later I went back to the text.

Looking at the picture...

I started noticing things I hadn't noticed before.

Sharper lines.

More depth.

More detail.

No filter.

A few days later I was talking to another good friend.

For some reason...

the clouds caught my attention again.

So I sent her another picture.

She zoomed in...

and pointed out something I completely missed.

My first reaction was trying to make sense of it.

Then I caught myself.

Maybe neither one of us needed the answer right then.

Maybe we just needed another perspective while we figured out what we were even looking at.

Hmm...

Funny how life works like that.

Same sky.

Different perspective.

Two things really can be true at the same time.

At the time...

none of those moments seemed connected.

I just kept noticing them.

Then the pattern started showing up.

So I went looking through my emails.

The more I read...

the more I realized your questions sounded a lot like my last two weeks.

I just sat there for a second.

That's where I started seeing the pattern.

So I pulled a few of them out.

---

"Why do I keep coming back to this?"

As I was reading emails like this...

I realized I'd been doing the exact same thing with this blog.

I'd write a little.

Walk away.

Come back.

I wasn't stuck.

I was figuring something out.

Maybe it isn't asking us to keep thinking about it.

Maybe it's asking us why we keep coming back to it.

Not to keep spinning.

Keep looking.

Sometimes the answer isn't forcing yourself to move on.

Sometimes it's understanding what keeps pulling you back.

That's where I started seeing the pattern.

Maybe it's time to gather another perspective.

"My gut says one thing. My head says another."

That one took me right back to those cloud pictures.

I thought I saw everything.

Then someone else zoomed in...

and pointed out something I completely missed.

We were just looking at the same thing from two different perspectives.

Maybe you don't have to figure it all out today.

Maybe you just need to let another perspective sit there for a little while.

The longer I let it sit...

the more the pattern started showing up.

Maybe it's time to shift our perspective.

---

"Have I changed?"

That one took me right back to those old bricks.

Nothing was wrong with the foundation.

It just needed another look.

Wipe away another layer.

See what was already there.

Maybe this isn't about everything around you changing.

Maybe it's about being honest with yourself.

What still feels authentic to you?

What still deserves your time and energy?

Maybe that's what you've been uncovering all along.

Maybe it's time to test our perspective.

---

So knowing we have the New Moon coming up July 14th...

I'm keeping my eye on this one.

Looking back...

I don't think the last couple of weeks were ever about finding the answer.

They were about noticing.

Looking at things from different angles.

Listening.

Comparing.

Questioning.

Looking for the common denominator.

Taking something that feels complicated...

until you start seeing the pattern.

Once you start seeing that common denominator...

everything starts fitting together a little differently.

And once you start seeing where that next brick belongs...

that's when it's time to lay it.

 Kristi