The clinic wasn't yet open and I was standing in the lunch room pouring myself a cup of morning goodness, I had a few moments before the doors would open and I was pondering life. I was questioning why so many of us stay in jobs we hate, why we arrive every morning dreading the day that would follow, or maybe feeling something a little less dramatic like the boredom of the daily grind. Is it because we have been told that "sometimes in life we have to do things we don't want to do..." and we buy into that?

It was at this moment that I thought how great it would be to grab my bag and say to my co-workers "It's been great working with you all, but I don't want to do this anymore....have a good day" and stroll right back out the door.

Okay, so that wasn't realistic. Life's not like a movie, where I would walk out the door and the sun would be shinning and the inspirational music would play and the world would be mine to explore! No, I would walkout, default on my mortgage, loose my car..........

But back to the original thought. Have we been beaten down so much that we accept that perhaps it's not possible to have a life that is fullfilling in all aspects. That we should accept that this is all there is? Or is it just a matter of attitude?

I must admit, when I started this post last week I really did not like my job. I think I was stressed b/c the last person with any experience left on Friday, which leaves me (4 months experience) and the new girls to figure it all out.

I am happy to report that the clinic did not spontaneously combust this week and it is actually going quite well. I don't hate my job and it's not really that bad.

But...every once and a while that nagging thought creeps in.....there must be more............

When I started at the eye clinic I was told that it was not a matter of if, but rather a matter of when I would break a patient's glasses. Today was my day. Yep, I over- tweaked a pair of old bifocals and cringed when I heard the "snap." You can't do much at that point except hang your head and groval. I felt like such a knob.

I'm feeling better now though, at least I wasn't driving the Queen of the North.

just remembered why I love photography.....

I just told Andrew to go get his little stool so we could eat dinner in living room tonight. I followed that by saying, "or we could eat at the kitchen table like normal people"
He replied "We're not normal!"

your reputation proceedes you...

The other day while chatting with a coworker, the topic of ex-boyfriends came up, from where I'm not sure....but none the less it arose and turned into a very interesting conversation. I was describing a highschool boyfriend and oddly enough my coworker exclaimed "I know him! I think I worked with him several years ago" She couldn't remember his last name, but was sure by the way I was describing him that it was indeed her former coworker. She brought a picture the next day from a company halloween party and sure enough it was him. I began to think about this, about how I had used a few words to describe him- sweet, shy, intense, incredibly talented, and she instantly connected those words to this man she met almost 10yrs ago. more to follow...........

words that define...

words are very powerful things. that's not a new statement, nothing profound and revolutionary about it, just the plain truth.
When I met my husband 10yrs ago, there were 6 words that catipulted us into friendship and eventually marriage. If you were to ask him about those words now, there is no doubt in my mind he would instantly be taken back in time and remember the significance of that simple statement .
8 yrs later I sat and listened helplessly as words came at me, bringing an end to our marriage, stinging words that will forever stay with me.
So many significant events are surrounded by a windstorm of words that serve to define who we are.
In turn, there are many words used by others to define us. Smart, funny, outgoing, cold, shy... the list is endless. I wonder if someone would be able to pick me out of a sea of aquaintances by such a brief description, and, what would that description be?
more to follow.....

your face reminds me of the day my dog ran away...

Words bring back memories...so can faces. Certain old friends remind me of when I was young, carefree and spontaneous. Old crushes bring me back to a time when I was insecure and shy. There are faces that remind of mistakes I've made. And still others that make me wonder, "what if..." It's hard to hear that you represent a hard time in someone's life. Harder still, knowing you can't go back and fix it. I spend a lot of time living in the past, wondering "what if...", wishing I had made different decsions, hoping unrealistically that somehow I would get another chance. I'm missing alot of the present, and even more of the future, daydreaming by the window of the past. Not sure how to move on from that.....

Just under the surface....

This is more than I would usually blog about, but Michelle expressed today her personal struggles and questioned why everyone else seems to be holding it together when faced with adversity. I have never felt the need to blog any of this, and can only say that I do now b/c I'm fairly sure she is not the only one who has questioned her faith, or felt inadequate as a wife, mother or christian. Perhaps a little honesty about what goes on under the surface, would remind us that it is only by the grace of God......

1 week before my wedding 8yrs ago I found myself incredibly ill, unable to eat, having panic attacks, stomach pains, etc. The doctors could not figure out what was going on and thought perhaps I had an ulcer. The day before the wedding we called it off and then put it back on again, we did however cancel our Honeymoon in the Carribean. I remember waking up the morning off my wedding absolutely miserable, I cried b/c it was supposed to be the happiest day of my life and I was so ill. I made it to the wedding, and we planned a less exciting, but still nice honeymoon to Whistler. It wasn't the honeymoon I had imagined, I was a mess, I had panic attacks and could hardly bring myself to smile at my new husband. I was devastated, so was he. I would often excuse myself to the bathroom and just pray that I could just go out and smile and enjoy my honeymoon and be a good wife. I prayed, I cried, I screamed, but I could not climb out of the pit. Things were not going the way I had desperately wanted. My family doctor diagnosed me with depression, and I declined to take medication. My husband kept suggesting I see someone, I refused. How devastating it was for him to have his new bride crumble this way.

It's fair to say that was the beginning of the end. Although by the time I had Andrew the depression was gone, the effects of that first year would never go away. We started growing apart the moment we said "I do".
It wasn't all bad, we had happy times and we were good friends, but it certainly wasn't what it should have been.

I started praying for our marriage about a year before it ended. Begging and pleading God to bring us to another level, to restore our marriage.
Trouble hit, and though it wasn't a huge shock, I figured we'd work through it. I was convinced that it was the answer to my prayer. Hard times that would serve in the end to bring us closer and restore our marriage to what it should be.

I was wrong. I was stunned.

We worked at it for 5 months. I cannot say that I did everything perfectly that summer, but my intentions were good. I tried and failed, and tried and failed more times than I can count. The thing is, life doesn't give you a handbook on how to deal with these situations, you pretty much have to guess, unfortunetly I may have guessed wrong.

My husband left last Sept, I watched as he packed his bag and walked out the door, I didn't try to stop him. A few months later he took off to Mexico with his new girlfriend. I was devastated. I didn't let him see it.

I felt so inadequate as a wife and a partner, I didn't snowboard or bungy jump or go to parties...she did. She was fun and exciting and all the things I'm not. That hurts pretty bad.

I felt so inadequate as a christian, I had prayed and prayed, but God did not hear my cry. I began to think that maybe I just didn't have enough faith.

It's been a hard year. So much has changed. I have had to make so many decisions on my own, admittedly some of them have been wrong.

I have cried myself to sleep on countless occasions, I have screamed and thrown things, I have crumpled into a ball on the floor, I have questioned who I am, and every choice I have ever made. I have yelled at God, and questioned why he is allowing my child to be raised in a broken family. I have wondered what I have done to deserve this, and how much more I can really handle.

The truth comes down to this, we are all just one desicion away from becoming an addict.
Seriously.

Am I holding it together any better than someone else? Probably not. Have I thought about drowning the pain? Yes, I certainly have. What keeps me from a breakdown? Not really sure. Would it be so bad if I had a breakdown? No, it really wouldn't.

Am I any less of a person because I once struggled with depression? because I made wrong choices on how to handle it? because sometimes I question God? Am I any less valuable because I have screwed up more times than I can count? because my husband left? because somedays it's a struggle to get out off bed? because sometimes I question what the point of it is?


I have a hard time with people who are obviously struggling and spew out some godly words that sound good and sound faithful and courageous, because they believe that as a christian it would be wrong to admit that we doubt, that we question, that we blame....

Does God really want us to be that fake? Is that really depending on him when we lie to ourselves and to Him about how we are feeling?

Let's just be honest and admit we don't like ourselves sometimes, that we blame ourselves, that we wonder what our purpose is.

We've all been there Michelle, in fact, I think alot of us are there right now.

Yes, it's orange...

And I like it!