“You need only claim the event of your life to make yourself yours. When you truly possess all you have been and done, which may take some time, you are fierce with reality” Florida Scott-Maxwell
There was the time when I had just started getting used to working. I was newly hired at the Social Services office as a clerk. The mode of transportation to and from work was the city buses. Bus stops were not always safe places to be in the city of Detroit.
I was standing on Jefferson Avenue waiting to catch the bus home from work. Jefferson was a main artery in the city. It ran east to west from Grosse Point to Downtown Detroit. There was always a variety of characters at this bus stop because it was in front of a very popular liquor store. This watering hole generated a lot of traffic and I often found myself very close to explosive situations. Standing there always made me feel somewhat anxious.
Fast-forward over 10 years later: I was recruited to work for a major retailer in Seattle. I’m renting a house that I had to hurry up and find because the employer agreement to house me in a studio apartment for 6 months had ended. Harvey was still living in Ohio trying to sell our home in the down housing market.
It’s 6:10 and I’m waiting on the #94 Agate Point Bus to take me to the Bainbridge Ferry for my commute to Seattle. I had to walk by a family of raccoons that were camped out in the tree next to my rental. I’m a city girl so passing by these characters made me very anxious.
I’m standing on Falk road and Manitou Beach, when it hits me. This watering hole had a different host of characters. Mt. Rainier is out and there are eagles sitting out on the pilings in the water. Instead of being anxious, I found that I become serene. I watched the seagulls fly by and listened to the otters play in the sound. Every day I began to realize how my life had once again unfolded anew.
Both bus stops remind me to stop and take in where I am. Grow where you are planted.