Charmed

 

"I woke up in the morning feeling fresh to death

 I'm so blessed, yes yes

 I went to sleep stressed, woke up refreshed

 I'm so blessed, yeah yes

 Water in my face and everything is in its place

 Peace of mind even my grace

 I'm so blessed, yes yes yes

 Yeah yeah struggle don't happen

 It's just the way it be

 Ain't nothing coming easily in this life

 Sometimes you gotta work and you gotta grow and it gotta hurt

 I'm sure you know

 Take a look around

I’m so blessed, yes yes yes"

~ Jill Scott - Blessed

I just found out I won a Nook. I was LITERALLY discussing the advantages/disadvantages of  Nooks and Kindles earlier at work. We exchanged book lists, shared some of our favorite non-fiction readings and she mentioned her Kindle. I told her I still like the feel of a book; the tactile pleasure of turning pages. The advantage that delivered me at the position of considering one is the fact you have multiple books without having to carry them all, which is a convenience for travel.  

Yesterday, I ran into a former co-worker that asked if I wanted to buy a raffle ticket. I’d meant to purchase one the week before and thought the deadline had past. She asked how many and I only had enough cash on me for one. Due to being run down, I didn’t go to the Christmas party where they were drawing the winners of the raffle but my former co-worker called me and told me I won a Nook! 

Then she said, “You have a charmed life!” 

This felt heavy when I heard it. Initially, I thought, “YOU DON’T KNOW MY LIFE!” You don’t know the purgatory I’ve tread. You don’t know emotional assassinations I’ve sidestepped.  And suddenly I saw a huge, tall, round majestic tree and watched the roots spreading and pushing to grow and support the tree’s stature.  

You don’t see a trees’ roots under the ground or witness how hard they had to drive in order to grow the smallest sapling visible above ground. The bigger and more robust the tree, the further spread and deeper the roots are. Roots have to thrust through rock, soil and other obstacles; no one sees that part. All you are able to see is the strong oak tree that looks unshakable, study, resilient…the exertion to become a work of beauty was all behind the scenes, and under the earth. Not a soul is cognizant of the amount of time it took the roots to produce such a thing of beauty. When someone walks through a neighborhood or field and stop due to the breathtaking exquisiteness of a sturdy oak, they don’t pause to consider what went into creating such a masterpiece.  

As her statement settled in on me,  I took this as a compliment. That means I’ve hidden the blood, sweat and tears it took to crack the earth and rise into my new form that strangers look upon as enchanted. The fight for nourishment, minerals, water, and the entire photosynthesis process has paid off. This means the beautiful buds are showing. My floral bouquet, the fruit of my perseverance is ripening. To have survived all opposition that has come before and stand at this juncture of life knowing I could have given up and never reached metamorphosis…she’s right, I am charmed. 

Funk-O-Meter: 19

(total days in a funky mood from 7/10/12 – 7/10/13)

Days Until Graduation: 246