Today I celebrate some worries. Because we can’t just celebrate the lovely and the grand and the comforting. Worries steal sleep. Create guilt. Taint happy. Ground us in the real.
If we are human, and we are, worries are a reality. So I am going to give mine a little honour and hope they will in turn, give me a little peace.
I am worried about the weeds in my back yard. The mess in my basement. How often my bathrooms should be cleaned and aren’t.
I worry about screen time and my teenagers. And how much time we spend arguing about it. Future everything and my teenagers. Choices, friendships, relationships, risks.
Nagging worries? The U.S presidential election. Crazy weather. The threat of earthquakes. The Vancouver housing market that means I am sitting on millions and others (including those children of mine) can’t have a home and the security that should bring.
I worry about teaching a new grade this fall in the room I still am setting up in a school I haven’t really worked at yet.
I worry about who in my house has had enough vegetables. Has read enough books. Has had enough sleep.
I worry about the balance between work and home and self and the dance I will soon be doing to try and find it with a new job and children advancing another year into high school.
I worry about vacations to plan. Money to fix up the back garden. Appointments to book.
I worry I shouldn’t be worrying and then that I should.
But if we are human, and we are, we can also pull out the happy of life that weaves its way through all of these worries and woes and hold it up and keep it close. Like the really good coffee my husband made me in our overpriced kitchen. The hawk cries in my huge pine tree where the weeds don’t grow. That the first words from my teenage son this morning were “I love you.”
Thank you to Ruth Ayres and the #celebratelu community!
Being part of a community that regularly shares gratitude and celebrations truly transforms my weeks.
There's a Book for That 
I share many of your worries. Funny, my husband and I say we are moving to Vancouver if the unspeakable happens in our election. Will I need more than adjustments to how I spell certain words? (Kinda kidding.)
I love the bright spots amidst the worry. Those moments are what make the worry worthwhile.
Well you would need to get the “ou” spelling thing happening that’s for sure! I love this province – but whoa, some crazy housing prices in this city. Seriously crazy. But I get the thinking about mass exiting from the US if certain things happen.
Having something to worry about is a celebration. We are blessed to be able to count worries in a celebration. I am so grateful that I am not raising kids in this social media frenzy world. I think there will be a great influx of people moving to Canada if this election turns the wrong way (in my opinion). I hope your worries about school will be put to rest the first day you meet your students. It will be a great year, especially for them.
Thanks Elsie. And yes, I sure can see Canada looking very appealing very quickly if things happen in the US that none of us (Canadians included) want to happen!
I hope that the list will help lessen the worries, Carrie. My mother used to tell me that worries can help guide us into what’s important, and then we can go forward from there. It seems that is what you’re doing by writing them down. I’ve had students put worries on paper, especially when we’re off on a big overnight trip, then into a big can, & we burn them, seems to help most. Always thinking about you and sending good wishes!
I slept incredibly well last night – maybe precisely because I gave these worries their day and can let them go a little! Thanks for all the care from afar Linda.
Carrie, worries are part of life. It is what we do with them that breaks our spirits or lets us forge ahead. I sit here with messy piles around me and what comforts me is the writing, the reading, and knowing that another day will come where I can take care of yet another pile.
Wise words Carol.
I hope your year starts off well.
Oh, the ever present worries. Years ago a friend asked me if I needed a worry “hug,” but I mistakenly heard worry “hook.” Ever since then, I’ve clung to the image of a wooden hook where I can hang my worries. I like that you acknowledge all your worries through this post. Many of us are concerned about this upcoming election, glad I no longer have teens to worry about, but I do worry that our young adults will never be able to afford homes in the areas where they live. And they do took my new grandson to the beach today . . . so glad to see he was wrapped from head to toe and wearing a hat! I love your phrase, “the happy of life.” It’s there too, tucked in among the worries. Here’s to a beautiful transition to your new school year and happy dancing!
Thanks for connecting and hearing me Ramona. I love the image of the hook to hang our worries on!
Carrie, reading each of your worries made me feel incrementally saner. Thank you for sharing them here. I’m going to make my own list–reading yours makes me think it would be cathartic.
It is cathartic – absolutely helped my sleep!
Are they worries, concerns or just things you are thinking about…?
Stay in the present with some mindfulness meditation. Might help, but won’t hurt! Best.
Things I am thinking about that I would rather not be!
Go on a worry vacation!