Springing Forward, Hunting Differently

It was a crazy week. I had an intensive T-Mobile training session in Tampa, Fla., and was battling a cold the entire time. Last night on the plane ride home, however, I met a really cool Nashville transplant named Cassy who also is doing some memoir writing. She made me aware of a local non-fiction writer's group that meets on a monthly basis at a Border's bookstore. I've been impatient to get more connected with the Nashville writing scene in all of my free time, and this could be the first point of entry.

The snow is falling once again here in Middle Tennessee. Winter is hanging on with tenacity. I am more than ready for spring, after nearly four months of working and living here. I'm really craving sunshine, and getting a good sweat in the outdoors. The gray, chilly weather affects my mood, which I think is not unusual. I enjoy change, so too much of anything bums me out.

Each year when spring is on the horizon, I find I want to change my hairstyle and get some new clothes. I get re-energized. This year I'm anticipating its arrival more than ever. I'm in Tennessee rather than Florida, where not much ever changes. I want to see flowers bloom, I want to glimpse trees teeming with leaves. I want to admire with awe as everything that was dead and frozen over spring back to life.

During my business trip I had some key success in delivering portions of a workshop for the first time. I also had some severe solitary wrestling matches at night, unable to sleep in my hotel, second-guessing myself on so many things. I don't do hotels well; the isolation gets to me. I recognized this week that, despite all of the spiritual inspiration I have been getting through my reading, a certain peace is definitely eluding me. I long for tranquility to spring to life in my heart and mind, teaching me new ways to wrestle with uncertainty and deeper manifestations of my own mortality.

There's a phrase in the business world called "hunting differently," using new techniques to seek different results. I may need to hunt a little differently when I comes to how I center down, release the burdens I feel and feel at peace.