Here’s one of the delights of parenthood. It’s late on a Sunday evening with my son and my daughter. Showers are being taken, lunches packed, teeth brushed. I’ve been nursing anxious feelings about the work week ahead for much of the afternoon – mostly successfully holding them at bay to stay focused on quality time with my kids.
But it’s evening now and I’m beginning to detach from the weekend. I pull out the laptop to maybe get a jump start on work. Perhaps I’ll just review the to-do list, or prioritize a bit. Something to sedate the monkey before attempting sleep. (Not the smartest plan to juice up the brain at bedtime, but my unease is winning this battle.)
My 15-year-old son says, “Hey Dad, look at this.” It’s about the last thing I want to do. He sits beside me and offers to show me something on this phone. He is my son and he’s just asked me for a few minutes of Quality Time, but can’t he see I’m harboring this ANGST that must be tended to!? There is an internal struggle as I close the cover on the laptop and hit my internal pause button to take a glance.
I am captivated by what he shows me.
He’s watching a just-released youtube video called One Breath Around The World. A guy in a wetsuit swimming amidst jaw-dropping underwater scenery, with emotive musical accompaniment. Somehow this is precisely what I needed to regain balance. I feel mesmerized, calmed, the gift of perspective returning to consciousness. Yes, there’s a big load to shoulder this week. It’ll get done.
johnny88keys 