Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Black & White Wednesday ~ Lean In

Monday was one of those days.
Nothing specifically wrong.
I just had a case of the blahs.
If you were related to me, you would probably say I had bad case of crankiness.
I could feel myself retreating.
Fading.
Withdrawing.
Trying to stuff my feelings and letting silly things really irritate me.


I posted this photo on instagram and facebook with this caption:
"Lean in. I'm feeling a bit old, craggily and tired this Monday evening. 
This tree is telling me to lean in...in spite of myself."

Now, if I'm being really honest, I'm not quite sure what "lean in" means. 
Except that I could feel it was the opposite of what I was wanting to do.
And I was thinking it had something to do with the whole being present in the now concept.
Somehow I knew that putting my heart out there,
instead of just giving in to moody silence and withdraw,
probably had something to do with "leaning in."
I'm so glad I posted...here's a comment I received from a far-away friend.

"Yes, lean in. I grew up in the Dalles (Oregon) where the wind is always blowing. As kids we used to see how far we could lean into the wind without falling over. After a while, instead of fighting against the wind, it was more like allowing the wind to hold you up. Lean in - it's a great metaphor!"

Well, I love that! 
Such a sweet, simple, profound and inspiring description of what it means to lean in!
These are words I will carry with me...Thanks Kelly!
Hope they encourage all of you as much as they encouraged me.




My Memory Art
Please join us and share your 
Black & White photos with us!
I'm also linking up with Communal Global 

16 comments:

  1. That is a wonderful thought-lean in. Hopefully the crankiness has subsided by now.

    I like your sketch very much.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A great photo and a great metapher...
    If I'm in such a mood, I will think in future "lean in" (in English)- I know that...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh I love this Adrienne... I saw your IG post (and could so relate) but didn't read Kelly's wise comment. It reminds me of another saying that goes something like "what you resist persists"... so lean in ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a thought! Love it! Thanks for sharing, I'll need to remember it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like. Hope you are feeling better!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like that philosophy - rather than fight it, embrace it and use it to your advantage. Lovely picture and good psa to the rest of us to play to the strengths of what is going on in our lives.

    Enjoy your day Adrienne. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is awesome. I love the idea of perseverance when you want to retreat. Not that a good retreat isn't needed at times, but the whole conquering idea speaks to me. I know as a mom that when things get thin here at home, my first tendency to pull back to recover, but I'm learning to dig in more to fix the issues with the ministry of presence.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I always equate those times to a dark cloud rolling in and surrounding me. I can literallly feel it when it happens. My family now knows to not fight the cloud...I just have to navigate my own way out of it. Gorgeous shot in BW! Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. We did the same leaning into the wind in autumn and winter when it was blowing cold and wet from the North Sea. Every Monday morning I wake up with a feeling of "blah". i like that expression ..I am going to use it when I have a miserable day. The image of the tree is great, still holding on.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It's gorgeous in b & w....you can really feel the mood!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. <3 Loved it on Instagram and love it here. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love your old tree, And I can relate to how you feel.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful old tree.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Aw. I can sympathize with you as I have days like that. Hope you are feeling better. And I love the poem.

    ReplyDelete