Jan has this week’s Friday Five:

I am currently reading a book entitled Stairway of Surprise: Six Steps to a Creative Life by Michael Lipson. His premise is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “I shall mount to paradise by the stairway of surprise.” Lipson’s book is about practicing or developing six inner functions–thinking, doing, feeling, loving, opening, and thanking.

So these categories of attention are a jumping off point for today’s Friday Five:

Pick five of the six actions and write about how you are practicing them today or recently. For a bonus, write about the sixth one you originally didn’t choose!

What or how are you…

1. thinking?

I’m pondering the possibilities for my upcoming fall. Currently there are four options before me for CPE. None of them have offered me a spot. Yet. Most are not interviewing until next month. So I wait. And wait. And try not to worry…

2. doing?

I’m updating the packing list for an upcoming camping trip and festival adventure at the Wild Goose Festival. Our re-entry into camping after a several-year hiatus will be, at the least, “interesting” as we experience this 4 day festival of spirituality, justice and the arts. I took out my old camping spreadsheet and realized how long it had been when I had toddler/young child amusements listed.

3. feeling?

I’m feeling content. Tired. Unsettled — waiting for that next “big thing” to happen. It actually is a busy summer ahead, with non-stop events and activities beginning next week. I’m ready!

4. loving?

The pace of this summer, with both girls home and a calendar that will be gathering speed and shoving us into August before we know it! The celebration of our family birthdays (concentrated in June and July) reminds me of the gift of my husband and daughters.

5. opening?

I’m about to open some steel storage racks to help re-organized the clutter in the basement, and now the first floor. It’s the final FINAL stages of work from our remodeling last fall. I’m resisting the temptation to become sentimental about anything. Everything is fair game for de-cluttering and re-purposing, and even listing on Freecycle.

6. thanking?

God… for health, family, friends, cats, flowers, even the weather.