Wednesday, June 24, 2009

An Awakening

Often, the smells in the air after an afternoon thunderstorm or first thing in the morning--whether here, my hometown, back East, or anywhere else I've been before--bring back specific, wonderful memories. Place and instance conjoin once again, overpowering the limits of time and location. Connections are made. A glimpse of eternity has been allowed. A part of my soul stirs wildly as it recognizes one of the many events in its constant creation.

These traces of scent might bring a slight pang of bittersweet nostalgia or smack of an event so profound it left me transformed, evermore. A breeze might leave me longing for those times, those friends in grace, or encourage me to send prayers of gratitude for a life so fine.


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I have found that laughter affects me much in the same way. Often, some of my favorite things about those most beloved to me are their laughs. A.'s laugh is my favorite sound in the world. My co-worker's laugh brings a huge grin to my face, without my even knowing it.

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Two weeks ago I was in Ohio for my baby sister's graduation with her Masters in Clinical Social Work from Ohio State. It was so fun to hang out with my family and see the life my sister has built for herself. The first night I arrived we stayed up unitl after 1:00 a.m., giggling in the dark, sharing stories. I was home.

Last weekend I drove to Salt Lake and reunited with dear college friends, BK, TW, and KW. On paper, there is little to suggest we would make good friends. In the light and energy of life, however, we grew to be very dear to each other.

Sitting around the W's kitchen table, catching up and reminiscing, laughing late into the night and again over breakfast, my soul was truly and quite simply singing. There has been an awakening.

3 comments:

  1. I'm way behind on reading your blog (and by extension your life). Reading your latest post reminds me of how much I'm missing and missing you.

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  2. This is lovely. And I'm with you on the smell thing. The first time I went back to France to visit my host family after living with them for a year, the familiar smells and associated memories almost knocked me over.

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