Don’t forget to swirl

Not all movement is linear.

Swirl in. Swirl out. Swirl on.

Impatience and agitation are my regular companions for house projects. Recently though, I had a new experience while sealing the deck (in case you missed it here). I was more focused on caring for the deck than my regular focus on maintaining yet another thing.

It felt like a surrender to the process. Calm came and stayed the course.

Paintbrush in hand, my right arm and hand swiped left and right. Sometimes they swiped up and down, and sometimes they swirled in circles to get the sealant in the right spots on the not-so-smooth wood, then left and right again to smooth it all out.

As my whole body lifted and contorted to get those hard-to-reach places on the opposite side of the railing, I bumped into sealant seemingly everywhere and soon it was stuck to my fingers. My arms. My shirt.

Just like sticky emotions. You know the ones. The uncomfortable emotions that always stick around longer than you'd like. Of course emotions have a purpose (read here), but I'm pretty sure they don't have a purpose when they stick around too long. Emotions are meant to move through us. I'm still learning and practicing how to allow them, to move them, and I can still get stuck feeling sad, mad, or just plain bad.

Reminder (to self): When stuck, try moving your body left to right, up and down, and don't forget to swirl.