Buddhist writer and teacher, Pema Chodron, says to "Start where you are"... Describe your current state of being--your environment, physicality, and any other details that bring you directly into the present moment.

It's late on Friday afternoon and I'm sitting in my office at work. My desk faces the doorway, which is a great improvement over my horrid old office where the only possible configuration of furniture involved my desk facing the wall and my back facing the doorway! Other furniture in my office includes a file cabinet, a wall-mounted bookshelf taking up one entire wall, and two 60’s-style chairs with a round granite-looking end table between them. My office has antique gold walls and a dark blue carpeting with a gold design in it. There are three interior windows: one looking out to the main area of Tech Services where everyone’s office window faces; one with a view of the first floor stacks; and, oddly, one between my office and the office next to mine. I keep the mini blinds pulled on the latter two. Adorning my walls are a bulletin board, a framed certificate of appreciation acknowledging 10 years of service, a poster of the Van Gogh painting Sunflowers, and an Insight poster proclaiming, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going. The smart left a long time ago.”

I’m wearing a pair of jeans, my UGG boots, and a red sweater since it’s “casual Friday.” My brain is fried. It's been a long week; today presented several problems to solve; and my boss gave me a "pre-review" in which she basically shared with me that my job as I know it will be disappearing come the new fiscal year in July. "But don't worry," she emphasized repeatedly over the course of the conversation, "there's a huge project up in Special Collections which involves digitizing rare manuscripts and personal papers owned by the library and I’d like you to be part of that team." I’m fine with that, and I wasn’t worried when I originally heard about the upcoming changes. I welcome the change in routine; the chance to learn something new. But it’s my boss's excessive reassurance that makes me uneasy and suspicious. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

I’m anticipating getting my hair trimmed after work (I’ve decided to grow it out from the short, spiky haircut I’ve sported for the past couple of years). Julie’s coming home from college for the weekend and Michelle and Craig are bringing Aubree up on Sunday to visit, so we'll all have the fun of being doting grandparents/aunt. I have all the materials to make some homemade Valentines--one of my fun weekend projects. We just received our tax return money so I’m also anticipating ordering our new kitchen flooring and purchasing a new comforter set and window coverings for our bedroom.

So there you have it, my current state of being... my present moment. But the basic question remains--where am I headed? "Start where you are. Take what you already have and build from there."  Or to quote the title of a book I recently cataloged:  Start Where You Are, But Don't Stay There. I've learned that lesson from my biking. I know that I can't pick up where I left off the season before, riding 50+ miles per day, or I'll end up sore and hurting. So I start slow and build. Likewise with my writing. I try not to compare my self-centered musings with authors that I admire. I start where I am, aware that it's all in the practicing. So what do I do now? I guess I just stay aware and alert to my surroundings. I remain flexible. I carefully watch for opportunity and grasp what naturally emerges.