School holidays are a disruptive time for our family. The kids are no longer in a familiar routine of getting up at a certain time to make sure everything is done in time to catch their school bus. They spend a lot more time around home so this means they are disruptive to my routine. There is a usually a period of tension in which we sort out the new schedule.
There is always a period of boredom where they tell me, “there’s nothing to do!” Then there is the constant asking to be given some money usually to waste on some adrenalin pumping manufactured activity.
I felt excited a couple of days ago when my youngest daughter said she wanted to make something. She wanted to make Christmas cards for the family. This was something that I was prepared to invest in.
I took her down to the local discount store and invested $20 in stuff from which she saw something that she could create. That night we were presented with a unique Christmas tree that could only have been made by her.
Out of disruption her creative spirit was sparked to do something herself. I love that out of boredom something new can emerge.
Then there is my own familiar routines. One of these is a regular walk with my wife around the escarpment of the Toowoomba Range. In this rhythm we have a few of our favourite routes that we choose as we head out on early in the morning.
A little while ago we decided to go a bit further on our regular route. That’s where we discovered the small spring that creates a waterfall, and a path that leads a little further on around the edge of the range.
As I wrote, “The Walk”, I reflected on this regular rhythm and how the physical activity refreshes my tiredness. There is something good in taking time to do something that is intrinsically boring. The real journey when walking is the one to my deepest thoughts where I can think in an unstructured way. There is no agenda when I set out on my walk and usually by the time I get home I find the day looks really hopeful. My main problem is that I often will have even more ideas of opportunities than what I know what to do with.
The nice thing that I have learned is to not rush to the next discovery. It will emerge in its own time. I couldn’t explore the spring that I found on that day but I knew it was another opportunity that would be there in its own time.
The Walk
There is a path that I like to walk,
Especially in the morning,
Where I have a view from the mountain –
Over the valley, and on a clear day,
I can see to the horizon.
Each step refreshes my tiredness,
It’s a rhythm my soul loves,
Where my spirit sees each day,
The path that takes me to my deepest thoughts,
About God and life and love and pain.
Today on my familiar walk,
I discovered a new path,
That led me to a spring,
That I didn’t expect,
Time only allowed a brief glimpse,
But, tomorrow will give the chance,
To explore the path not yet travelled,
An opportunity waiting to emerge.