Row boat

blog

I’m back in Nashville this week, working in the office and seeing friends.  Every time I come back to Nashville, I’m struck by two things: how much this place still feels like home – and how things can’t ever be the way that they were before.

The longing for “the way things were” is my Achilles’ heel, and it has the power to sink me like a cinder block.  It doesn’t matter what my present looks like, or what the past actually was like – nostalgia is a revisionist, and cuts out the tough things so that only the best memories remain.

But I’m in my little row boat on the river of life, and time is the current that’s pulling me forward, forward, forward.  I’m thankful for the places I’ve seen, and the the people I’ve met, and the opportunities and adventures that have surprised me along the way.  I’ve survived rapids and waterfalls and the occasional overturned boat, only to find that the stream just keeps going.  Paddling back the other direction doesn’t get me very far, and leaves me frustrated and tired (not to mention hungry for a hot dog).

So I choose to be content in this little wooden vessel, oars at the ready to help determine my course, but ultimately trusting that the river is pulling me in the right direction.  This week, it’s looped me back through Nashville – and as always, I’m grateful.

share:

6 Comments

  1. Emily from Seattle on August 15, 2011 at 10:50 AM

    This?

    “nostalgia is a revisionist, and cuts out the tough things so that only the best memories remain.”

    Could not BE more true!!!

  2. Greta on August 15, 2011 at 11:36 AM

    You used my river analogy! :) Love it. When life gets stressful, I like to think of the boat turning itself into an inflatable RAFT that I can just lie back in and coast on. Hope Nashville is more raft than row boat this week.

    Love you.

  3. bob on August 15, 2011 at 12:01 PM

    That is one great analogy. Is there a song in it?

  4. Shannon (sister of the other Annie) on August 16, 2011 at 3:10 PM

    That sounded like a song inspiration to me too!

  5. kimberly on August 16, 2011 at 8:03 PM

    oh annie. just to hear someone else say “how things can’t ever be the way that they were before” just gives me peace. to know that there is someone else who feels that, it is good to know.

  6. Emily on August 16, 2011 at 10:11 PM

    Sweet Annie. Thanks for the reminder to steady on.

    The view is pretty behind me, but more exciting as I look forward. I hope my little river-stream joins you some time soon! I would love to paddle with you for a while!

Leave a Comment