A quick glance at the pictures our landscaper sent, and I knew I’d be moving wood for at least a month. One log per day.

Chores are not quick

The logs were from a tree that went down over the trail up the mountain behind our house and from trees that were also in danger of falling. Every day since returning from celebrating my daughter’s and our granddaughter’s birthdays, I have walked the winding trail, picked up a log, and navigated down the mountain to the woodpiles outside the garage. It’s similar to my one-bucket-of-weeds-per-day policy. There’ll always be weeds. Quickness will not change that.

I’m not quick moving anymore or as quick in doing things. That’s a good thing, since my agility and stamina are not what they used to be. I take my time with spring cleaning, too – one room or closet or chore per day. Except for cleaning the memory closet. I ponder what to keep—memories of my mother, who would have been 100 last week—and what to let go.

Success is not quick

A quick glance at Tuesday’s email preview: “Hi Carole! Thanks for this. I like it.” 

On Monday, I’d pitched a completed piece to the personal essay editor of the Huffington Post. After making the two quick revisions he requested, I received an offer and signed a contract on Wednesday. Three days, though I’d written the piece in April and submitted it twice to my writing group for critique before sending the pitch. Freelancing is quick moving and doing, but it’s taken me twelve years to get to this point.

The same Wednesday: “Congratulations! We think your work is a great fit…” 

I’d drafted that essay two years ago. Then it went through several revisions and six submissions to literary magazines. All had declined until the acceptance by a small journal I submitted to five months ago. This kind of publication success is not quick. 

Like cleaning memory closets, writing takes time to understand what to keep and what to let go.

I am not quick

A quick glance at the dress rack at the women’s Swap, Shop, and Share event at church on Saturday (left), and I knew that little black dress would likely end up in my closet (right). Along with a pair of sneakers, a long black skirt, and a long-sleeved stretch turtle neck. You’d never know I’m not a shopper. But hey, they were quick swaps for what I’d donated.

My journey in faith has been anything but a quick swap, and that’s a good thing, too. Excellence comes not from self-achievement or quick heroics. Faith is like Odysseus’ Odyssey rather than Achilles’ Iliad, according to Eugene H. Peterson.

But here’s the irony. If we want to fight the good fight and finish the race (2 Timothy 4:7), we must not shuffle along with the crowd but run with horses. (Jeremiah 12:5) And today, I do that one log, one bucket of weeds, one closet, one essay, and one little black dress at a time.

Link up with Five Minute Friday: https://fiveminutefriday.com/2023/06/01/fmf-writing-prompt-link-up-quick/