Out of the whirlwind aka Terrapin tales, the art of treading water? or staying afloat!
How often do we refer to or quote the saying “like a swan gliding serenely across the lake….with its feet working double time, hidden below the waterline” to describe the way we feel at times. As if we were wearing a mask that if it were to slip, the messy reality of how we struggle to keep all the balls we juggle aloft, would be on show and somehow distract from both who we are and what we do.
Within my former role as a busy Registered Manager of a nursing home, I often joked on this whether internally or with colleagues. For whilst outwardly I would have to be calm, smiling, have all the time in the world for whatever or whoever needed my attention – internally I would be thinking on all that needed to be done, reordering and prioritising tasks, demands etc on the basis of who was shouting louder not necessarily that which was more important.
Frustratingly, simple tasks would become bigger figuratively if not literally whilst I tried to maintain my focus on my passion- the people at the core of our service.
Whilst walking my dogs last summer around a local pond, enjoying a rare cloudless blue sky – I was idly scanning the pond for the “supposed almost mythical” terrapins ( 20 years in the local area walking past the pond – I’d heard tales that there had been sightings, yet had never seen them). When there upon some floating weed enjoying the sun floated a red eared terrapin! It then seemed whenever we passed we would catch that, or another, at one time even two near each other, either sunbathing or with just their heads poking out – floating/treading water taking a breather!
It was shortly after this sighting when experiencing another “Swans mask session” that I giggled to myself “I’m no swan more like the terrapin with my body under the water and just my head poking above to catch a breath.
This image became fixed in my mind as I contemplated making a lifestyle change, taking a leap of faith and was considering taking myself out of the whirlwind that my role and work life had become. I wanted to start looking for a new focus for my passion, which would bring a balance within my life and allow me to float.
Hence this- my story, my new venture, my leap of faith “I of the Storm”- a restorative time out! but that’s running ahead….
Libby