Do DODOOO do do do, do doo do do do do, DO! Ah, the soothing sound of that freaking XYLOPHONE hurtling you head-first into a week’s worth of anxieties and “to do” list items. By the time you’ve stopped the alarm, you’ve already had 10 distressing thoughts about the tasks you need to finish today. Gone are the lazy hazy crazy days of Sunday: Monday’s back.
Let me stop right there.
No. We don’t have to start the week that way. Maybe we have in the past. Maybe we’ve felt our creativity and positivity and joy get locked up before they even had a chance to run wild before us. Maybe we’ve lived for the weekend, trudged through the week in a metaphorical fetal position until Friday.
Maybe we have. But not today. Not this week.
Today, we are this girl. Look at her face. This is a girl that people doubted. Oh, you’d better believe they did. “You can’t possibly carry that owl,” her 3rd grade classmates told her. “You’ll hurt its talons,” a field trip chaperone said.
But still, this girl soldiered on.
I like to think that she stormed to the front of her class as they gathered around, competing to hold the bird. She stepped forth in boldness, in total confidence.
“I’ll hold the owl,” she said. She didn’t ask, she didn’t stutter. She stated. I’m holding that owl. Her eyes burned the message into the eyes of the bird-keeper. The owl flapped its wings a couple of times, then settled on her mitted hand like Telemachus taking his rightful spot next to his father in their fight against the suitors.
Together, they turned towards her classmates. As one. Victorious. Glorious. Her classmates’ mouths dropped as she lifted her fist to the sky.
Today was hers.
Today, we are this girl. We aren’t hiding in the crowd. Oh, no no. We are going after our owl and raising it high in the sky for all to see.
Have a great Monday, you queens.