The World Has Never Been Safe

by Michele Boy | November 2, 2023

It’s November! Cool weather, leaves changing color, seasons changing. 
 How are you doing? I am making decisions about Thanksgiving printing for the paper. It looks like a long weekend beforehand and I will print on Monday morning of that week, publishing Tuesday. 
And then there is planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have several sheep shows coming up.
We are trying to navigate holidays with shearing animals and travel.
One of our better lambs stopped eating for no reason at all. Not lethargic, not ill, nothing wrong.. And then 36 hours later decided she would eat again. 
We have a show coming up this weekend but until our lambs are loaded and heading to the show, I can’t say for sure we are going. 
 Have you watched much of the news lately? Horribly depressing and frightening. The world seems so unsafe. 
My husband said, “The world has never been safe.”
 That stuck with me. 
Remember the grandma in the movie Parenthood? She said, “Some people like the ferris wheel. But it just goes round and round. I like the rollercoaster. It goes up and down and up and down.”
 How are we living our life? 
I admit most of my choices range between how do I keep my daughter safe yet offer her the independence she needs.
 This Halloweeen was different than all the ones before. She went trick or treating with friends and we sat with adults visiting through the evening. It was different but nice.
 Part of me wants to go back to the time when I hold her hand going door to door, reminding her to use her manners, and have it just be the three of us. But that isn’t fair to her.  
 Life is changing. Every single day it is new. Most of the time it is so subtle we don’t notice. 
 Then my daughter grows another half of an inch and I wonder where my baby went. 
 Are we slowing down enough to enjoy right now? 
I went for a walk with my dogs the other day. Just me and my dogs. It was uncomfortable because I usually walk with a friend. 
But I got out of my comfort zone.  I read something that said every day we should try two things that make us uncomfortable. 
So I got out and walked by myself. I noticed the color of leaves more. I felt the sun on my face a little warmer. In the end, I enjoyed the walk by myself but was ready to get back to my routine with my friend. 
 Getting uncomfortable doesn’t mean comfort comes right away. But it does say I can do more than I give myself credit for.
  In this very busy November I want to try to add more reading and personal writing.
 That idea I have of writing a book has fallen behind. A friend mentioned something about my book and it got me thinking. 
November is NaNoWriMo. It is a writing challenge to write 50,000 words by the end of November. 
 I am going to get uncomfortable and try. 
I have only read half the books I challenged myself to this year. There is still time but not enough to complete it. Is it okay to fail? Yes. If we don’t try, we don’t 
risk. And life should have some risk. I don’t think it is supposed to be about playing it safe. 
What is that saying - What if I fail? Oh but my darling, what if you fly?