It’s Thursday, and for those of you have been reading for a while, you know what that means. For those of you who don’t, it means this is the day when I think of Georg, my dad, the man who is responsible for my presence on this earth. Let us not forget Rosanne, my mother. It takes two people to make a person, and they are the two who made me. I love them, both.
I am thinking of Georg in particular today because I have a job interview that I’m pretty excited about. Okay, nervous. I won’t go into detail yet. Let’s just say, this could be a very cool job to have. My mom called me this morning and we agreed I will stop at her house on the way to the interview so she can give me a good luck hug. Thank God for good luck hugs from mothers. I know that not everyone still has the luxury of their mother, and for this I am grateful.
Recently, I have been running for exercise, and I created this incentive plan for myself to “run to the garbage can and you will get the best job ever.” This is because the particular garbage can in question happens to be at the top of a long hill. This morning, I have a very sore back because I had to do some heavy lifting recently at Georg’s storage space. We had a flood on Monday, the day of the deluge here in Sheboygan. Nothing was irreparably damaged. Thank God, and Amy, who works in the embroidery shop across the hall in the basement area at EBCO building where Georg’s stuff is stored. If not for Amy sounding the alarm and calling Tim, who then called me, many things would have sat in water for a lot longer than they did. Like I said, Thank God for Amy.
Because of my sore back, I could not run today, but I could do a rigorous walk. So I rigorously walked up my hill, all the way to my garbage can. I realize it is not the garbage can itself that is the talisman here. It is the effort and determination to walk up the hill. One does not always know what will be at the top, but one must go anyway.
Also, in this current time of transition between jobs, I am reading a great book called Awareness by Anthony de Mello. This book is mind-bending and will inspire you to “wake up” and look at life (your own and the world’s) with new eyes. De Mello says (I paraphrase): “It is not the unknown we fear. It is that we fear letting go of the known.”
Yes, indeed. Onward into the unknown, which is pretty much how it should be everyday. New people, new jobs, new adventures.
Happy Thursday, Dad. You went into the unknown with no fear, and I love you for that and so much more. See you at the top of the hill.
Love,
Lisa
Lisa Vihos: Poet and Novelist 