To ev'ry thing

(turn, turn, turn)
There is a season
(turn, turn, turn)
And, a time for ev'ry purpose, under heaven......

It is time to slow the whirling dervish. Stop the pinball bouncing off of things. Those things have had their season...at least for right now.

Okay, so when I'm being a whirling dervish, creatively spinning like a top, with partially completed projects flying out of the vortex like debris out of a tornado, there's only one thing that can stop the spinning.

I need a list. And, I need to clean. Those are my anchors.

Rob knows that when I'm spinning around like this and frustrated and stressed, the sign that change is coming is a good clean.

It started yesterday, when I wrote down all my outstanding projects, wrote the steps to complete them, and assigned each a priority number.

Last night, after a very frustrating afternoon at work, I made a plan for how I can change my work experience and hopefully make it a more positive one.

Then, I washed dishes.

And, this morning, I finished my MIL's quilt and instead of picking something else up, or continuing to rip out quilting and replace it, I started working on that pile of scraps and moving them into the scrap users system; picking seams and sorting by size and straightening edges. Making those scraps usable, so now I can use them up. And, leaving a clean space where they used to be.

Rob will be happy because now I can finally finish the kitchen I started painting and have left half done for 6 weeks.

My boss will be happy because, historically, when I settle down, I do some really great work.

And, Sydney was just happy she didn't have to do the dishes last night.

Life is a cycle for me. Up. Down.

Both serve a great purpose in my life. In the up times, I'm creative as hell. In the down times, I'm reflective and caring and am most likely to open myself to new emotional experiences. But, in the transition, when up changes to down, or the other way around, and those two extremes compete for control, I'm a pain in the ass to everybody. Moody. Cranky. Grumpy. All the bad dwarves, except Sneezy (and in spring and fall, he gets inside my head, too.)

I know I'm not alone. So, if you're transitioning, hang in there. Try something comforting and hold on. If you're not transitioning, enjoy the high...or the low, whichever it is. And, if this doesn't describe you, then you're lucky. Hey, I may be crazy, but I'm never boring.

Oh, and you're welcome for the Byrd's song I stuck in your head.

Lane