Reimagining

Reimagining…isn’t that a great word?

It’s a word full of hope, and promise, and redemption. It’s a word that assures us that just because we imagined something one way, doesn’t mean the dream can’t be retooled if things don’t go as planned.

It’s a word that comes up a lot in Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne—they only book currently on my corner shelf--and I’ve adopted it. I love it. In his book, Shane talks about reimagining lots of things—abandoned houses that become living space for the homeless; careers after realizing that life is about more than amassing as much as you can for yourself, and entire philosophies about how to spend our time while were here on the planet.

I’ve been away all week, at one of my favorite places in the mountains and I’m as sure as I can be as I look into my pre-departure crystal ball ( I wrote this week’s posts ahead of time) that I’ll be doing some reimagining of my own.

As I shared earlier this week, I have a really good chance of getting a job that I would love. As I’ve mentioned several times on this blog, and dozens more, live, to friends and family, all I really wanted to do after completing my masters degree was to go back to what I was doing before—because I was really happy teaching art part time and freelancing on my off days. Of course, with an advanced degree, I’d love higher pay and better gigs, but in general, I like my work and I really don’t want to do anything else.

But there’s this other part of me that has been seeking change. The part of me that feels stuck in a rut, the part that wants to be, see, and do everything.

For a long time, I thought change would come in the form of a move. All winter I told people that we were moving this summer. Because I really thought we were. But the move never materialized. Then I pretty much expected that change would come in the form of a different kind of job, because I didn’t think I’d be fortunate enough to find a situation anything like I had before, so I adopted an adventure mindset about where I might find work.

So I’m also wondering if it IS a fortunate thing to wind up back where I started when there are so many roads left unexplored. I’m wondering what the next steps will be for my writing, as my career has been punctuated by so many dead ends.

When I was in Africa in 2000, I was fascinated to see children playing with beautiful model cars—that they constructed from trash. The image has always stayed with me as a reminder that even refuse can be fashioned into something functional, innovative, interesting, and enjoyable.

So while I’m out on the lake in my kayak, retracing familiar woodland paths, and relaxing around the campfire, I’ll also be I’m reimagining the possibilities of coming full circle, of blank canvasses and new beginnings. I‘ll be reimagining spaces and places in an environment where I always seem to have the best visibility.

I hope you have some things to re-imagine, too, and that you have a place that’s quiet and beautiful in which to dream. I’d love reading about it if you’d like to share. Meet me here on Monday and we’ll chat.