Not finding the words this morning. They’re there. I can feel them. But they hide. And though I can sense them on the edge of my being and I earnestly call them forth, they hesitate, they wait. It’s a game we sometimes play. They will not come. They will make me come to them, as if to say, “If you raise us from the shadows, you must own what you say, reap what you sow. We will not come.” So, I must go to them. But this morning I pause, for I have learned a pen too eager for words not ready can be trouble. So I will wait. But I don’t want to.

I want to share my deepening dilemma with allowing the stranger that is standardized testing into our room as it disrupts and defiles our sacred space, my fight-or-flight teetering on a precipice offering danger with either step.

If I fight (and I want to), I risk raising the storm outside my room, an invitation to more stranger danger as I call attention to my reason and resolve and a battle’s begun, from which I will not back down but of which I cannot win. Can I afford a pyrrhic victory?

If I flee (and I won’t) and hide inside my room, the stranger will come anyway. And in its coming, it will not care a whit for the names and the stories behind them, as it seeks to name them numbers, winners and losers. And I, I cannot readily reconcile such an uninvited violation of the humans I harbor in this space made sacred, this home we occupy. Can I just stand by?

I don’t know. The answer waits. Words for another day.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…crafting an introduction.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…discussing Why with Sy.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Tuesday, all. Sorry for the “strange” post this morning. Struggling with this. Thank you for letting me try to find my words this morning.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.