Strength in Waves
Lauren Cook, Founder
As one of my favorite authors Anne Lamott says, sometimes life can get really “lifey.” This was April for me – my dog had just died, a neighbor suddenly passed away, and things felt particularly lifey. I was sitting at my desk in the COS office one afternoon that week. I closed my final Zoom meeting of the day and cried. I thought, how can I keep moving forward? How can I hold this grief and keep working and living? I looked to my right and saw the “Pocket Pema” I keep on my desktop. I opened it to a random page, one of the many pages I had earmarked before.
Lauren’s Pocket Pema which has permanent residence on her desk.
The chapter was titled Keep standing up and Chodron described what her teacher told her when she shared her feelings of overwhelm and anger with him:
“Well what that feels like is a big wave that comes along and knocks you down. You find yourself lying on the bottom of the ocean with your face in the sand, and even though all that sand is going up your nose and into your mouth and your eyes and ears, you stand up and you begin walking again. Then the next wave comes and knocks you down. The waves just keep coming, but each time you get knocked down, you stand up and keep walking. After a while, you’ll find that the waves appear to be getting smaller.”
Reading this gave me instant relief. I reminded myself to keep walking. And literally, to keep up daily walks outside during the beautiful spring weather (and not always with a podcast playing!). To meditate daily. To keep breathing. The waves continue, but I’m strengthening my sea legs.
And amidst the lifey-ness, there is growth. There are seeds of change and possibility. At Connecting Our Stories, we’re talking about what growth looks like – new ideas, expanded projects, bold offerings. Stay tuned! We hope one of our new ideas will spark growth and strength in your life and work.
Lego’s version of The Great Wave, a woodblock print by Japanese artist Hokusai (1831). Lauren and her son assembled the Lego and now it hangs in Lauren’s room at the COS office.