Taking Stock to Find Grace

It is the kind of morning where I'm feeling frustrated--and tired--and probably the bulk of my frustration comes from being tired.

I would like a morning to linger at home, but of all the mornings of the week, Thursday morning is not the morning when I can do this--I must be at school to teach my 9:00 class this morning.

Earlier in the term, I could have lingered longer, but it's been taking me longer and longer to get to work.  I know that the tourist season has started, but do they really have to be up and about when the rest of us are trying to go to work?

My relatives are still in town, but since we're at the end of the term, I can't cancel/shorten class.  This afternoon, we may make a motorcycle trek to Key Largo, but so much depends on the weather, which has been very iffy.  I prefer to have solid plans, but that is not the case today.  Sigh.

I also feel that fretfulness that comes from not writing as much as I would like.  But let me take a moment to remember what I have written since Dec. 1: 

--I wrote a vignette to go with my friend's vignette--over 900 words.  She had written her view of dying and being in purgatory.  I wrote a short story from the viewpoint of God, who knows that my friend has a warped view of the afterlife, but also can't explain what's actually going on in language my friend can understand.  It works best when read with her piece, but it also works alone.

--I wrote a glowing letter of recommendation.

--I wrote comment after comment on final essays.

--I wrote more e-mails than I like to count.

--I wrote a poem.

--I've continued to blog.

And in other creativity, I finished one prayer shawl and will probably finish crocheting another.  I made several batches of cookies.  I created a fabric art piece.

O.K. I haven't been a slug.  In a comment on another post, Wendy says, ". . . I keep thinking about how much harder we can be on ourselves than others. I think they are doing the best they can with the tools they have, and, much of the time, I think I can do better. Can I find the same grace for myself that I have for others? (Not that I always have grace for others, but generally speaking.)"

I wrote back:  "I am the exact same way--finding grace for me--that's the next piece I need to practice!"

And now, let me throw on some clothes and head out into the traffic--a school for grace if ever there was one!