A Little Maya Angelou on the Beach

Not much of a challenge to cool off for these boys

Today, I am relaxing on the beach with all my cuts, bruises, and sore limbs. I never wrote down my thoughts this morning, too groggy and too achy from not sleeping well. We packed a cooler, picked up Zach, and headed down to Ocean Grove. I am attempting to write my Friday words on my iPad. I am glad the sun is not glaring on the screen but even with our Tommy Bahama umbrella overhead, it is still a challenge. Life is full of challenges.

 “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive, and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” 

This quote from Maya Angelou scrolled in my Instagram feed yesterday, along with all the other posts paying respect to Aretha. It does befit the Queen of Soul as much as it would apply to Ms. Angelou, Oprah’s favorite lady to quote. I’d like to think her message would apply to all of humanity. We should all live our lives with compassion, humor and a good deal of self-respect, despite the challenges.

A few weeks into my summer, I was facing retirement and thought about what it takes to live a full and vibrant life. Maya Angelou’s mission just about sums it up. My checklist began that day with being creative. It could be working on a painting, but it could also be dicing and chopping in the kitchen and coming up with dinner for my family. Just doing something with passion fills my soul with joy. I continued my list with personal goals, to exercise every day and to spend time with my family and my friends, as I could enjoy sitting in solitude with my art a bit too much. At the end of my list was a checkbox for helping others. That is an important one. I felt helpful to others at school with no expectations for payback. I like helping others, it fills me with happiness. How do I do that at home? Help some other old lady off the floor when she falls?

I soon realized my list could not be complete. A full and vibrant life is a work in progress, constantly growing and evolving. After a trip to a museum, I added inspiration as another box to check off. I feel a rush of adrenaline when I see something that screams out to me to be painted, sewn, or written, at it feels really good inside. For Norman, I am sure he gets a rush from showing off his talent in an amazing one-eyed game of tennis, a skillful bet in poker, or perhaps a blood curling movie he knows better than to take me to. A rush of adrenaline from inspiration gets my clean and vegan blood pumping, the telemeters in my ancient brain growing, and my bandaged fingers ready to move. Inspiration is a fountain of youth and should be a checkbox on everyone’s list.

As I discovered this week, life can be a challenge. Accidents happen when you least expect them, especially when you hit a curb in the road and it stops you dead in your tracks. Hopefully I won’t fall on the street every week, but being challenged may not be such a terrible thing. The last time I got hurt walking the dogs, I broke two bones in my left arm falling on the ice. When I returned to school with a cast, I had to reinvent the art lesson I was going to do with my students. With only one working hand, I showed them how to paint a landscape without ever drawing perfect little houses, trees, and ducks in the pond. Their paintings were beyond impressive, very impressionistic, and a favorite new lesson for my repertoire. That unexpected challenge brought growth to my third grade curriculum and growth to me as a teacher. Challenges can keep you on your toes as long as you don't break them when you fall. Perhaps, as my friend Ellen suggested, I can still grow as a person if I walk down the street in bubble wrap.

What's on your checklist?