SOLSC '20 Day Two: Necessary drought

Dryness promotes the formation of flower buds...flowering is, after all, not an aesthetic contribution, but a survival mechanism.

ANN HAYMOND ZWINGER When an emailed daily quote from "A Network for Grateful Living" aligns with the monthly theme of Simplicity in Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach and the two decluttering courses I've signed up for but ignored this last month, I pay attention and remember the fruits of my dry seasons. My first memories of journaling in fifth and sixth grades...I was an outsider, a military BRAT transplant in a civilian public school where few of my fellow students had traveled beyond the California state line.  The words helped me connect with my teachers.  I journaled when we moved to Germany afterwards, once again among military dependents but still feeling different; kids don't like other kids who set the curve in algebra. Words. Another readjustment in El Paso...literally the driest place I've lived.  I cut my hair, joined choir, ran with the nerds and the headbangers, expanded my musical tastes. Reinvention.  Music. I was the only student in my graduating class to attend UT Austin, six hundred miles away.  My family moved back to Germany halfway through my freshman year.  Money was tight, so I worked and shopped the clearance aisles of Kmart.  I took on larger class loads to graduate early. Thrift.  Perseverance. A beginning teacher's salary in 1987 barely covered rent, student loan payments, and gas money.  My refrigerator held five or six items and I had a capsule wardrobe before it was a stylish trend.  I took advantage of free and low-cost recreational activities--dollar movies, walking city parks. Resourcefulness. I got married and had a child.  My husband and I worked opposite shifts; my part time job only filled six hours of the week.  I scrapbooked to document this time of our life, crocheted and sewed to outfit the nursery and gift my fellow young mothers. Creativity. My mother died.  I had a second child, and the postpartum years brought with them a delayed grief, a midlife crisis.  Mothering and homecare wasn't enough.  I hit bottom, started taking better care of myself, returned to a career in education. Purpose. Now here I am, not in a drought season, but one of abundance.  I have enough money, food, clothing, shelter to live a comfortable life...and I find myself lacking some of the fruits from my past.  It's time to prune in order to bloom again. Words.  Reinvention.  Music.  Thrift.  Perseverance.  Resourcefulness.  Creativity.  Purpose.