I feel like I’m moving in slow motion, one foot in front of the other, cognizant of each and every move, and as well as how the feet and legs work in opposition, but together. Walking. It’s a pretty amazing thing that we are able to do. And the four-footed animals – they have even more to work with. This high degree of coordination, we humans take it for granted. I don’t know if animals take it for granted.

Fish. They too have to coordinate their front and rear fin activity. Nature is truly wonderous.

Shadow jumping

The problem is that humans have lost touch with nature and aren’t seeing quite how wonderful it is.

One foot in front of the other. It is for me, today, an analogous comparison. The more that goes on in my life, the slower I move. This is because I become overwhelmed.

Last night I went to sleep anxious, and no wonder, my dreams were anxiety driven. In one dream, I was swimming then fell asleep in the pool. I woke up and was standing by the hot tub. There was a television and some of the pool patrons were watching it. There was another dream in which I forgot to make a prearranged call.

I had plans for this morning. Pete and I were scheduled to talk with an individual from an Anchorage based literacy program at 9 a.m. I was then going to go to and do book distribution, go swimming and then go home. And I had a call to make at noon.
The 9 a.m. conference went very well, and was energizing. I made some calls, and then waited for Pete to head to town with me, so that we might measure the space available in the hotel, possible literacy grant funding being contingent on providing the organization in question with space, for which they’d provide us with rent.

This was a lot to think about. I waited and waited for Pete to finish his administrative work. I cleaned the house, and waited some more. This waiting, this was on account of my feeling overwhelmed by all that is going on, and knowing that half of the BLBP workload is on my shoulders.

This is what I know: a person can get everything imaginable done if they are in the present because then they have ample time to get it all done. They simply do what they need to do. A person can get nothing done if they are thinking about the future because they don’t see how they can get it all done.

I can give an example here. I have the books to villages and the literacy programs to coordinate. If I’m in the present I can work on both, not simultaneously of course, but in increments. Throw in a dozen other things – if I do these things with single minded intensity of focus, I’ll get them done.

Maybe, just maybe, having articulated this, I’ll have better dreams tonight.

Next: 37. February 6, 2025: Going Back in Time