In a previous chapter of my life when appointments with people populated my planner...I coined a phrase for myself: surfing the chaos.
There seemed to arise every so often--a day, a week, a month--times when the line between peace and panic would fade and catastrophic chaos loomed. During those times, I grabbed my board and caught the wave.
Those on the shore watching the activity were amazed; it looked so smooth and graceful and choreographed on the surface!
"How does she do it"? They would ask outloud to no one in particular.
The answer is: I had no idea. All I knew to do when faced with those circumstances was stay on the board and hang on through the curl of the wave, mist in my face, roar of the ocean, threat of imminent peril crashing overhead.
In the end it was almost always exhilirating. Sometimes it was dibilitating. Fairly often it was excruiating. But, what other choice was there?
I don't know if it's El Nino, the Mayan Calendar, or the Harvest Moon...but, it's been one of those weeks. Midterms, lectures, office hours. Budgets, evals, baby showers. The lines in my forehead and shadows under my eyes give me away: sleep has been sweet but all too short recently.
My life's current chapter has a different theme, but the predictably random nature of the chaos wave has not changed.
Surfs Up!
Grab your board...