Some days I struggle with getting out of bed. My preference would be to be a night owl and get up later than my horses would like to be fed. Often if I don’t have anything first thing in the morning I’ll get back in bed for a few minutes.
One time when Mike was in the hospital, and I was staying with Roderick in Lawrence he mentioned that he thought I was going to bed much earlier than he remembered me doing at home. I responded that I wanted to be at the hospital for rounds which sometimes started at 6:30 am. It was about a 45-minute drive, depending on traffic, and I needed some time to get myself ready before I left. These were times it felt like I was getting up in the middle of the night.
There were a lot of times that I would wake up or have trouble getting to sleep and would get up and work on whatever was on my mind. It might have been some sort of design project, changes to my website, or a story that I needed to get on paper. Then I could go back to bed and sleep the rest of the night. Having something on my mind that keeps me awake rarely happens anymore. I’ve learned how to calm my mind.
One of the ways I do that is to go out to see the horses. When I lived in Oakley I would drive to the barn, and all was right with the world. Now I’m surrounded by horses, and it is only steps to the barn. All is right with the world here.
The Stories Kept Me Up
Some of those nights when I couldn’t sleep, I had thoughts about caregiving for Mike that I needed to get out. Now I’ve started writing a book about it. I don’t know if the original writing will go into it. I do know it helped to get the thoughts out of my head. Those stories and the book are healing me.
Would you like to explore your stories? On Wednesday evenings in May, I’ll be starting Sunset Connections. A time every week when you can come out and watch the sunset with the horses. This will be a safe and sacred space where you can explore your stories.
If you’d like to find out more either come to my Open Barn/Demo Day on April 28 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm CT (register here to get the address here) or click the button below for a quick Zoom with me.
Make a Connection in the comments below.
Onward!
