T.G.I.F.: Perhaps this is the time to take an extra slow sip from a piping mug of coffee

~ Live & Learn

From where I write, the world is a storm of scars and grief, and somehow, of unexpected delight. This mélange isn’t logical. It’s a mystery. But perhaps now is the perfect time for such a thing.

Perhaps this is the time to take an extra slow sip from a piping mug of coffee, to let the steam melt into the waiting face and to savor the way that dark substance can invigorate the body. Perhaps this is the time to gaze at squirrels in the yard, those lucky rodents who don’t seem to realize—or care—that we’ve changed, those chipper squirrels whose routines continue with full gusto despite everything else. Perhaps this is the time to sit with someone you’ve grown accustomed to seeing each day, to stare at their familiar face under familiar light and look for the unfamiliar things that made you love them in the first place.

This is a time when one of the few things we’re certain about is how little certainty there is. We can scramble to find answers and do what we can to act in the midst of these swirling questions and trials, but this can also be a time to pause. Somehow, in the middle of all these current messes, there are still pleasant—even delightful—mysteries to be found. There are friends to check in on (from a distance), there’s astonishment to be shared. There are poems to be read. There is hope to be found, embraced, passed along.

The heavy blanket of fog in the yard has lightened so that it’s no more than a sheet. The baby maple, still alone, stretches up from its cast. Next year, it may be crowned with leaves, and someday, it will give us shade, like the ones who came before it. Somehow, in the midst of everything, it grows stronger each day.

—  Angela Hugunin, from “The Comfort Of A Poem: Reflections on Mary Oliver’s “Mysteries, Yes. ” (cvwritersguild.org, April 7, 2020)

Photo by Nathan Dumlao

28 thoughts on “T.G.I.F.: Perhaps this is the time to take an extra slow sip from a piping mug of coffee”

  2. I’ve always been a bit of a night owl because I’m not one of those people who wakes up ready to deal with people. LOL! If I spend a few hours reading, thinking, relaxing, eating a light breakfast, listening to music or the news ahead of that first encounter, that first person I meet keeps their head on. I’m not a pleasant person until; I sort things out for the day.

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  5. This resonates so profoundly. Was watching a couple of squirrels cavorting around the yard yesterday and thinking, “Bless them, they are so busy and blissfully ignorant of all the turmoil in the world.” Their continued adherence to routine is strangely comforting. Like you, pal, I am a morning person. Need these quiet, pre-dawn hours alone with my dogs to get my mind right for the day. 🥰

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  8. Pingback: T.G.I.F.: Perhaps this is the time to take an extra slow sip from a piping mug of coffee – Waiting for the Karma Truck

  11. Yes, to all this. I am struggling to find a rhythm that works for me but I do know I like, no need, to stop and just be. Watch the goings on around me, feel grounded. Thank you for this wonderful snippet and link to the original post. Angela is a beautiful writer.

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  13. I love this. I have been (unusually) aware of how “normal” my life is as I go about my business while others in the world are losing their homes, their families, their lives for having/wanting the same thing. If there is ever a time to appreciate and savor, this is it.

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