You might think I’m yearning for a holiday! But actually, I’m sharing a lovely Charlie Brown ‘story’ about unfolding the deck chairs and my reflections on this.
“Life,” Lucy tells Charlie Brown, “is like a deck chair.”
“Like a what?” asks Charlie Brown.
“Like a deck chair. Some people put their deck chair at the front of the ship so they can see where they are going. Some people put their deck chair at the rear of the ship so they can see where they’ve been. On the cruise ship of life, Charlie Brown, which way is your deck chair facing?”
“I haven’t figured out how to get mine unfolded yet.” says Charlie Brown
Unfolding The Deck Chairs of My Mind
There are days I feel like Charlie Brown.
Days I’m not sure of not just which way my deck chair is facing
But finding that I have several unfolded deck chairs!
Days when I realize that there is some much ‘unfolded’ stuff deep in my subconsious.
Yet buried deep within the dark recesses of my mind
This impacts
My choices
My responses
The way I feel about the world around
And what I feel about myself.
Amazing how we can go through life
Leaving so much within us ‘unfolded’.
So many unsorted emotions
Plenty of memories that we don’t want to recall
Truths we don’t want to deal with
And parts of ourselves that make us uncomfortable.
So we live pretending that all is well
That no one has hurt us
Or if they have we’ve forgiven them completely
Living our perfect-because-it-hurts-to-be-vulnerable lives
In our perfect-I’m-above-it-all worlds
Because like the title of Kelly Oxford’s book
Everything Is Perfect When You’re a Liar.
The truth is that I want to get comfortable with my imperfection
Comfortable acknowledging that I’ve been hurt
Sometimes by the ones closest to me
I want to be authentic about the fact
That I still struggle with difficult memories
That I still let guilt win over grace
That I still long to be acknowledged
As being ‘me’ by my family of origin
No, not everything is perfect in my world
It never will be.
But I will continue to unfold
Those parts of me that I’d rather keep hidden
I’ll expose my vulnerabilities
Because that’s the only way I can be authentic
The only way I can completely be Me.

And now I understand something so frightening and wonderful-
– Mary Oliver
how the mind clings to the road it knows,
rushing through crossroads, sticking
like lint to the familiar.

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Lol Corrine…we’re frequent cruisers (or were until ‘you know what’ came on the scene) and my favourite spot was on the side deck promenade spending time in a lounger watching the sea ‘sail’ by. I could stand by the railings and look forward or backwards but preferred to just sit and watch the waves roll by.
Not sure what to make of that but by golly you certainly are doing a lot of soul searching while you’re on deck ‘rearranging’ the furniture Here’s to some peaceful journeys into the back lots of your brain.
Take care
Cathy
Cathy recently posted..So what am I going to do….
Once again Mary Oliver has caught me In my same old trick of sticking like lint to the known way when other paths beckon!
Thanks for your insights –always deep.
Have never relaxed on a deck chair. But agree on that phrase, and yes, many have yet to unfold a deck chair.
Wow! When I read the title of the post, I never would have guessed the content. I love your thoughts on unfolding our lives. This line bowled me over: “Living our perfect-because-it-hurts-to-be-vulnerable lives” .So powerful! You have made me think this morning, Corinne! Thank you.
Laurie recently posted..Getting Your Money’s Worth
Hi Corinne, thank you for such a wonderful post! It’s a beautiful read and I love the metaphor. I’ve just finished a ten day retreat so I unfolded a few more chairs that I’d forgotten about … and reading this just gave me a new burst of motivation – thank you 🙂
What a wonderful, practical, helpful post! So much to ponder here and to process. Thank you for the gift of these words. Blessings, Michele