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Excerpted Inspirations #235

  • Writer: Linda Odhner, with photos by Liz Kufs
    Linda Odhner, with photos by Liz Kufs
  • 2 days ago
  • 0 min read
At my job, I finally got to sit down with my supervisor to ask her some questions about the reports I was writing and get some feedback. I was feeling very jumpy and rushed and nervous. I had the familiar feeling of fear in the pit of my stomach – as if it were dropping down toward my feet. A voice inside was saying, “There won’t be time to cover all I need to find out about.” Suddenly all the frantic feelings fell away and I was just there, knowing that the feeling of being rushed, of having to do something now, fast, was not contributing to my well-being. I relaxed, and I was able to find out what I needed – feel my way without worrying about time or going blank. I got a feeling in my body that was exactly analogous to the time – the exact moment – that I learned to swim. I was eight or nine. I had been trying to learn to swim for a long time. I was terribly afraid I would drown. The water was my enemy. I flailed around trying desperately to stay on top of the water. I was sure that if I didn’t thrash around frantically I’d sink. Then, when I wasn’t really trying, just once I let myself go – let the water hold me up. Just like that – from that moment – I knew how to swim. I didn’t have to keep myself up. I only needed to cooperate with the water, and trust it would hold me up. I knew even then that this was significant. The sudden feeling of calm at work was like that. I am beginning to get the feeling of what it is like to be in the present moment, in uncertainty, without fear. Not that I expect to have that feeling always, but it is good to know what it is like. And I can always recall it by remembering what my body felt like in that moment when I learned to swim. Beryl Cranch Simonetti, Images (2000), unpublished, pp. 46-47

 
 
 

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