Taking Care of Taking Care

"Taking care of business," is what I first thought I'd title this morning's post. But, really, this is more about the business of taking care of distracting things in my life. "De-cluttering" my mind, as it were, to be able more fully to be present to being in the present. (Did I really type that?)

Yesterday I celebrated beginning my third year in Flint by taking care of two things. I had my first session with a counselor whom I expect to see twice a month . . . forever. Or at least as long as I'm trying to provide pastoral care to a congregation. (Oh, and since this was my first visit, I am tolerating the tension between my intuition that this relationship will be a good fit and the reality that it will need time to prove itself.) I had a great time driving to a town I don't know well, clearing space out in my car and head, even getting dressed more intentionally than I otherwise might while on vacation.

I was satisfied with our first session. I feel like I have a little space, now, and more freedom to deal with pastoral care issues that will arise.

Second, I shared a beer with neighbors to celebrate the start of year number three. Good beer, the original pilsner from Plzen. Told dumb stories about brewing. Talked about stuff in the house. Showed neighbors the two new trees I planted in the back yard near Durand Street. (Where my neighbors sometimes hear me talking to my plants in the early morning.)

An intentional professional conversation, a friendly celebration with a little good beer. That sounds like self-care to me.

And today? I'm taking my old iMac G3 in to have its contents downloaded to an external drive (that also has the contents of my Powerbook G4). I corrupted the G3 when I first moved to Flint when I tried to install a new operating system without checking out the memory requirements. (I had driven for hours! I was tired!) I have been living off my laptop since, which is fine, but puts a strain on the laptop.

I had planned on getting the G3 looked at last summer (that was going to be some of last year's "self-care" project), but when my Dad died, everything got too jumbled up. "Self-care" was really just about coping, for too many months. In the late winter, I made appointments for a physical, and started getting more regular exercise. In the spring I joined Weight Watchers and dropped the first 20 of what will be many more pounds. And today, I will take that computer in . . .

The sun is up, and that's what life feels like just now, too.

Good morning.