D., Cassie and a speaking tree on a Thanksgiving weekend hike to Marble Rock

~ sunsets on the river

~ peppermint tea

~ harvest season, my local farmers market and the abundance of food in our fridge

~ our home, though it's not always the cleanest, it's warm and it nurtures

~ my books

~ fresh McIntosh apples

~ the circle of supportive women in my life, you mean so much to me

~ the Mad Chatters, may our discussions continue to enlighten and cause gut-busting belly laughter

~ my local library

~ my computer and how it allows me to create and connect here, with you

~ my little Honda Civic, it brings me places

~ this weekend's Thanksgiving hike at the Marble Rock Conservation Area

~ the sunny warm weather we've been having these past few weeks, goodness is it really October?

~ a freezer full of strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, and sweet corn

~ my point & shoot camera

~ art supplies and art-making

~ Squam Art Workshops

~ last weekend's Spiderman theme birthday party for D.

~ my health and that of my loved ones

~ my colleagues and friends

~ the practice of writing Morning Pages (thank you Julia Cameron!)

~ my family, I am blessed with musical, laughter-loving genes

~ opportunity and possibility, being born where they're both readily accessible

~ freedom to speak and think out loud, freedom to vote

~ this space here, my blog

~ D.'s family

~ D., our conversations, our silence, our being together

~ Cassie, her smiling enthusiasm and her cozy snuggles

I am blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving to you.

Steph

"Complacency is a state of mind that exists only in retrospective: it has to be shattered before being ascertained."

~ Vladimir Nabokov

~~~

"I might take an art workshop while I'm off", I said as we looked over the lunch menu on the wall.

Miss K.'s head whipped around and she shot me a look. "Not while you're off", she said, "but during your transition. This is your TRAN-SI-TION, this is NOT time off."

She was right and I was shocked, shocked at how quickly - not to mention easily - complacency had settled in while I worked so hard for it not to!

I knew I'd have a mind game on my hands when I chose to take a one-year leave of absence from the office instead of quitting outright to pursue other options. I mean, there's nothing quite like leaving a full-time job with benefits and a pension to light that bring-home-the-bacon fire under your a$$ right?

Nope. Because it's a built-in safety net, a leave of absence just doesn't have the same effect. It leaves more room to get lazy. But for various (and thought out) reasons it's what I chose and it comes with its consequences.

Awareness is key, but it seems sometimes even that isn't enough.

So between now and the end of the month, the official starting point of my transitional work journey, I'll pick my flabbergasted bottom jaw up from the floor, heed my new-found respect for Complacency and come up with strategies to circumvent it.

No doubt one of them will be more lunches with Miss K.

A Thanksgiving Gratitude List

Beware Complacency