Celebrate This Week: XXXI

17 Comments

I’m glad you are here to celebrate! Share a link to your blog post below and/or use #celebratelu to share celebrations on Twitter.

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A don’t-miss…
If you are attending the All Write Summer Institute in June and would like to meet up for dinner on Wednesday, June 18, consider joining us for dinner. Sign up HERE!
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A promise…
I’m saying it here so that I will be accountable: I will be blogging again before next Saturday. If I don’t, I certainly hope someone makes it sting a little.
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A real post…
I am exhausted. It’s been a week where it seems like everything is falling apart. I know this isn’t true. I know there is good. There is good in my family and work and faith. 
But at the end of the day (and even the beginning), it seems like it’s all cracking – there’s a child who is lying ad another who is crying. There’s silence and screaming. There’s last minute notice and long-standing meetings. There is a sore throat and a stuffy nose. There’s too much to do and we’re moving in more directions than there are people who can drive. Our calendar is overfilling and the main mode of communication is texting. Yes, texting.
But there are also giggles. Giggles from the kitchen as Andy and Karianne make Knekkebroed for the Norwegian National Day celebration we are hosting. Giggles in the airport, accompanied by a little squeal when Sam saw Karianne for the first time in nearly two years. Thankfully she hurried to us, reaching Sam for a hug before he ran through security in his excitement to see her. 
Giggles with Christy Rush-Levine  in her classroom and during reflection time and over dinner, turning into just the right nourishment for my weary teaching-soul. Giggles with my Grandma, who Sam and I visited after she fell and is recovering. Giggles with my friends, who somehow understand that hard doesn’t mean sad and exhausted doesn’t mean too-much. Giggles as Sam shows how flexible he is and J proves how flexible he isn’t. Giggles from Stephanie and Hannah as they draw and paint together. Giggles that come from texts. Yes, texts.
I am exhausted. It’s been a week where it seems like everything is falling apart. I know this isn’t true. I know this isn’t true because I choose to celebrate. I choose to celebrate even though things aren’t perfect and poor choices happen and I’m tired and my head hurts and my heart hurts and my soul is fragile. 
I find the celebrations  even when they are hidden in the fog of an exhausting week. It’s different than being happy and it’s different than being grateful. It’s gritty celebration. It takes gumption and a bit of moxie.
I’m glad you are here, sharing the gritty celebrations you are seeking in your own corner of the world. Thank you for inspiring me to find gritty celebration in the grayest of days.

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17 Comments »

  3. Ah, it appears you have had the same kind of week as mine own. I thank you a thousand fold for writing your book because sometimes it is what helps pull me out of my misery and into my celebration of the life I've been given.

    Kimberley
    First in Maine

  4. Finding the celebration when days are tough helps to feed your soul and continue your work at home and school. I hope next week does not fall apart, but builds you up.

  7. I think those weeks speak to all of our hearts! We have certainly been there! I've seen your tweets on the All Write meet up. Writing is an area I need help in. We're on vacation that week this year, but maybe next year? I'll be looking forward to the tweets and posts that will come as a result of the great thoughts!

  8. I love this paragraph: I find the celebrations even when they are hidden in the fog of an exhausting week. It’s different than being happy and it’s different than being grateful. It’s gritty celebration. It takes gumption and a bit of moxie.

  11. Yes sometimes these weeks it's tougher to stay positive. Now I feel that maybe I should have added something in my post about the headache too in a bid for openness and honesty. Yes, I love that my son is home from college, but teaching 9 classes that day along with helping with the Hmong dancing performance and then leaving immediately on a 2.5 hour drive to go get him, not getting home until after mid-night and going to sleep after 1 then getting up to go to school did cause a headache that I am still dealing with more than 24 hrs later. All isn't celebration, but I am so glad that we are looking for the good. I like that you called it gritty celebration. We are determined to look for the positives. I am also celebrating that I didn't have classes yesterday afternoon so I went home early and had a nap. 🙂

  12. Ruth – I am grateful for your gritty celebration. Finding the positives in busy, challenging times make them shine all the brighter. Thanks for reminding all of us of this each week!

  13. Sometimes gritty celebrations and finding the thing to smile about when everything is insane is better than celebrating when everything is calm. I guess it just feels like it is more meaningful. Hang in there and have a wonderful week.

  14. This time of year is so exhausting but so worth celebrating. Thank you for creating the place to do just that. Hope you have lots of giggles in the days ahead!

  16. I love that new term gritty celebration. It reminds us that there are things to celebrate every week, even during the rough weeks. I was thinking of not posting this week until I read your words . . . and then I went in search of those moments to celebrate.