It\u2019s summer. My routine is no longer a routine and I\u2019m starting to lose track of what day it is. This might sound ideal to some – but not me! I like structure! For much of the year I count on Mondays to reset the chaos of my life as my household resumes a schedule. But not only is it summer, I\u2019m between jobs. So\u2026what is Monday? It\u2019s just a continuation of the other chaotic days! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll probably have to drive my daughter somewhere\u2026but where? And at what time? No one knows. I don\u2019t even know when to make my to-do list? Like, when do I start? Does it even matter? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ongoing chaos reigns. Having a teenager is chaotic, of course, and I also have a mom with Alzheimer\u2019s. And a garage door opener that doesn\u2019t work. And a geriatric dog who asks to go outside in complete silence so we don\u2019t know when he needs to pee. My chaos is nothing compared to plenty of people I know\u2026but I don’t know anyone who lives without it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hoping to find a way out of the chaos in my life, I recently read Patricia Livingston\u2019s book, This Blessed Mess. <\/em>(I already have a stack of unread \u201chow-to-organize-your-stuff books.). Instead the book helped me discover that chaos is part of life and, indeed, essential to it. She writes as a person of faith, that was a connection point for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The creation story that is part of my faith tradition tells of God bringing forth light, sky, land, oceans, living creatures – from chaos. Chaos is the raw material for creation. In the history of humankind, that chaos keeps re-emerging and we have to keep reimagining ways to create from it. Create communities that have been broken, create healing from sickness, create art from scraps of what was, re-create ourselves when we\u2019ve gone all chaotic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That insight reframed chaos for me. It\u2019ll always be in my life, what will I make of it? I\u2019ll never make a whole cosmos\u2026but the disarray in my life shows me opportunities to bring comfort, repair, joy, resourcefulness, or even just plain listening.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve got months of chaos ahead to see how this works. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s summer. My routine is no longer a routine and I\u2019m starting to lose track of what day it is. This might sound ideal to some – but not me! I like structure! For much of the year I count … Continue reading