Community, Community, Community

Monday, February 25, 2008

I’m on the Hudson line, heading North out of NYC. We just rounded the bend at the top of manhattan and the Hudswon River is on my right (I prefer to face backwards) the George Washington Bridge is fading into the horizon. The sun is shining bright on the snow along the tracks and the snow that highlights the Palisades across the river.

Two women are getting caught up on there lives in the seat behind me. Both of them nice people, one of them speaks with an immigrant’s accent. I’m headed into the country to hang out with two writer friends and their toddler son, but the 83-minute train ride is a perfect time to open my laptop and do my morning work on my book.

Times like this I can’t help but notice, this is a pretty nice life. It’s not perfect yet. (What am I saying? It will never be perfect.) It’s still not even sustainable yet, but it’s nice. And I can see that it’s going to work.

I can feel successive stages of relief as I pass through successive stages of preparation for a new income stream. (Switching from ad-hoc freelance writing and contract work to professional coaching and teaching.)

A huge amount of our energy gets wasted on panic and worry and mania. Even when things are going well, it’s amazing how much anguish gets stirred up in a regular day if you don’t pay attention. More importantly, I suppose, it’s amazing how much good it feels when you notice how far you’ve come and how good it is where you already are.