“go with the flow”
you hear it all the time
so eventually you do
because it’s exhausting
to swim upstream
against the current
day after day
month after month
year after year
it’s easier to float along
“go with the flow”
agreeing
pleasing
smiling
on the outside
until the day when
you’re tired of drifting
tired of the easy way
tired of the sameness
of each and every day
you feel a spark
of your old self
on the inside
so you start
swimming
paddling
fighting
your way upstream
once more
as the spark grows
into an eternal flame
and you reclaim
doused dreams
you are determined
to never
“go with the flow”
again
I took this photograph on vacation in Smoky Mountain National Park near Gatlinburg, Tennessee on June 6, 2011.
© 2011 Janean Baird, Turquoise Tangles
Turquoise Tangles 
Go with the flow… It sounds good.How r u, darling? Big hug for u, ur husband & sons.
Originally posted by ligan0510:
Aidia – Thanks for stopping by! "Go with the flow" DOES sound good but it'll zap your spirit if you do it for too long. Better to be True To Yourself. Perhaps I should try to figure out how to work THAT tidbit into the poem. Alas, there will be another…
Thank you for asking about me. I'm doing OK. I have A FUN WEEK PLANNED with my girlfriends, mother and sister in law because I'm turning forty on Thursday. Until then, I HAVE THREE MORE DAYS TO BE THIRTY NINE. And yes, I will pass on your hugs to the boys and man in my life for sure.
How are YOU, My Dear?
~ Janean
I am happy, peaceful, and harmonious. Everyday is a gift from God. It's amazing.First novel finish, now observing for 2nd one. While studying Vipassana or be a Dhamma Server. Btw, you & hubby should try Vipassana. Please check it out at http://www.dhamma.org.Big hug!Aidia
😉 Go with the flow is good and Well planned also good. The most important thing is keep equanimous. Be happy, darling!
Once again… 😛 Is it too late to say Happy 40??Ok, now I'll be silence again. 🙂
Aidia,I love each of your notes here! Thank you so much for each of them and the sentiment within. You sound MARVELOUS! Congratulations on finishing your first novel and preparing for the second one!!!! WOW!!! Every day IS a gift from God. He is amazing, in all things. Thank you for that very necessary reminder. Always good to hear such Truth. I am not good at going with the flow. I chafe and get surly when I feel swept along for the ride in a direction I don't want to go that everyone else is flowing. Maybe that mean life is harder than it has to be, but it is what it is, in my life anyway. Maybe I'm just swimmin' in the wrong body of water. Perhaps THAT'S been the problem all along, I'm in The Wrong School of Fishes. Equanimous. You taught me that word once before. See how I need reminding? Defined as, "Of an even, composed frame of mind; of a steady temper; not easily elated or depressed."You're not too late to say Happy 40th, at all! The Actual Day is December 1. So, now I have two more days to be 39…and counting…besides, I am accepting early and belated birthday wishes, as well as Day Of birthday wishes. I'm not going to quibble about a day here or there. I LOVE hearing from you! Don't stay silent too long. Promise?! ~ Janean
Go with the flow; for some it works out… for others, not so much. I hope you guys keep fighting.I've started going with the flow at work. My school, instead of numbering the classes, they've named the classes. So there's K1-Loving (my class), K1-Respectful and K1-Caring (with other homeroom teachers). However, we've all decided that when it comes to management's decisions, we all teach one class: K1-StopCaring. 😛
Originally posted by bentrein:
Sounds like some things are universal and Education Administration is one of them. Ugh. Nice names though. Looks good on paper. I'm sure the teachers make it work in practice as well.
I am not good at going with the flow. Which is what I wrote to Aidia on November 28, so I won't repeat myself all over again. *sigh* ~ Janean
Yeah, I read that… :)As for the names looking nice on paper, certainly. Though I'm glad I'm not teaching S6-Loving (Secondary 6); which would be rich, probably mostly hot, Thai 17 year olds… Especially with the Loving addition would make it hard for me… 😀
😆 …. you are spared the S6-Loving teaching assignment Ben… lucky break huh? 😆
😀 Yeah, lucky break. Wouldn't like ending up in jail for… er… inappropriate behaviour! 😆
Love your way of describing things, Janean 🙂 … your narrative is not only beautiful it's meaningful. apropos.. Originally posted by jbaird:
I know what you mean … it can zap you out…. but i guess it's sometimes hard not go with the flow… Ben's right when he says "for some it works out… for others, not so much. " Not going with the flow can be a lonely path, even if one is true to one's self… but as with so much else in life. a balance has to be struck at some stage. I think you're doing marvelously at all of this and if you think you're swimming in the wrong school (shoal ) of fishes, it's a big ocean and you can vary the school you choose to swim with. That's not me saying what you should do. It's me saying you are awesome in your ability, your strength of purpose, your motivation, your dedication. Your hope is unending, deep and strong, as is your abiding faith. Thinking of you as I read your page, Janean.Sending you a big hug from the darkened shores of island Britannia, where it's now 6.pm
Originally posted by bentrein:
😆 😆
Originally posted by greatZenaida:
Hello Zena…. nice to see you here 🙂 …. Ben will answer your question 😀 :cheers:
Originally posted by lokutus-prime:
Gracefully bowing out, eyh John… And rightfully so, I would've done the same thing. :DUnfortunately, Zenaida, I am unable to answer your question any clearer than it was stated in the preceding comments. I'm sorry if you missed the point, but don't worry, it's not a life changing experience you missed. :)Originally posted by greatZenaida:
Sorry to keep you waiting so long, and to give you such an unsatisfactory answer. I was on holiday.
Originally posted by lokutus-prime:
Thank you, John. I have found a group of friends, artists and writers and mothers from the school my children attend, who are wonderful and marvelous and feel like the right companions for me. They encourage and love and say what they think and don't pull punches, unless a hug is called for instead. It is such a relief to Just Be Me and drop the phony baloney facade I kept in place to survive in the world for many years. Maybe it's turning 40 that's making me braver, or giving voice to the words inside me here, since spring. Either way, I'm hitting my groove and finding My People and happier on the inside than I've been in a long time as Life Comes Together Just Right, even in the midst of the medical stuff my family is facing together in this moment. ~ Janean
Originally posted by greatZenaida:
Zena, Thank you for this book suggestion. I found it used on Amazon.com and read this description from Wikipedia as well, "Like the Flowing River: Stories, 1998-2005 (Portuguese: Ser como o rio que flui. Relatos (1998-2005)) is a 2006 story collection of Paulo Coelho.This is a collection of reflections from Paulo Coelho. In this riveting collection of thoughts and stories, he offers his personal reflections on a wide range of subjects from archery and music to elegance, travelling and the nature of good and evil. An old woman explains to her grandson how a mere pencil can show him the path to happiness! Instructions on how to climb a mountain reveal the secret to making your dreams a reality. This work presents the story of Ghengis Khan and the Falcon that teaches about the folly of anger – and the art of friendship; and a pianist who performs an example in fulfilling your destiny. The author learns three important lessons when he goes to the rescue of a man in the street – Paulo shows us how life has lessons for us in the greatest, smallest and most unusual of experiences."I love books, and the ones recommended by friends often become my favorite books ever read. ~ Janeanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_the_Flowing_River
Originally posted by greatZenaida:
Zena, I love all your Merry Christmas notes to us, scattered throughout Opera. Thank you for sharing your joy of the season with us. I shall reply once again with another Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, just because I can, and it makes me smile to do so. As far as the lucky break comment. I get it. It's innuendo, "an indirect implication". I'm not going to say more, other than suggest you read between the lines. We'll leave it at that. Hello to you too, Ben. Nice you came back by to reply to Zena as well. It was great fun for me to log on after an absence and find all these wonderful comments from the three of you. ~ Janean
nice poem. I can relate to both ways, going with the flow and then that spark once again and returning to the fight to go upstream.crisp, refreshing photo
Originally posted by studio41:
Thank you for visiting and commenting, studio41. I love seeing new faces here, and you and I have been crisscrossing on My Opera lately, runnin' in the same circle. I can relate both ways too. I lost my fight for awhile and just went with it. The result was I was so unhappy and didn't recognize myself on the inside. The photo is from our vacation in June of this year to Smoky Mountain National Park. You couldn't take a bad picture as the scenery was so beautiful. ~ Janean
Instead of going up or down stream you can cut across. I don´t think it´s a compromise but at times a wise direction :happy:Your poem goes very well with a painting i made in 2004:http://www.nicgallery.dk/index.php?pid=gallery_details&id=49
Originally posted by nopanic:
It does indeed. Nice painting, Nicolas!
Thanks Janean :happy:
Originally posted by nopanic:
Ah, yes, ACROSS!!!! Splendid and WISE suggestion! Perhaps THAT'S what I've been waiting to hear all my life. THANK YOU! I don't have much tolerance for committees and all their layers of communication. My preference is to cut to the chase and wade through the crap and get the job done. Across! Brilliant!
Originally posted by nopanic:
Thank you for sharing this image of your painting with me. I can relate to that guy in the boat quite well. Very expressive and yet soothing and lovely at the same time. (Ben gets credit for the first compliment to your work. My Opera e-mail notifications have disappeared so I'm a bit late to the comment game. Will figure that out soon…)
Thank you for drifting over to my blog from Art Man's. Here's a link to a poem I wrote in April and illustrated with a photograph from the Caribbean taken in August 2006.
http://my.opera.com/jbaird/blog/untangled
~ Janean
:oThankyou so much for the kind words. I get excited when art makes one communicate!
Originally posted by nopanic:
I love art too. It makes my heart sing. 🙂
:sing: :up:
Originally posted by nopanic:
Though if I'm doing the singing, it's more than a bit off key…
Originally posted by nopanic:
Good one!
Every bird sing with individual beaks 😀
:happy:
Originally posted by greatZenaida:
Thank you for the grin your words and smiley faces brought me, Zena. BIG SMILE right back! 😀
Hello John and Ben, what's all about this lucky break??? 💡
Wow…Janean very nice picture of nature and poems " go with the flow " exactly after that I've learned for many yrs too I don't have to think anymore..I just let simply " go with the flow " Like the flowing river by Paulo Coelho…reminds me about your poems…it's really good to read…:lol: :cheers: :up: :heart:
Originally posted by bentrein:
Yeah….Lucky break!:cheers: Originally posted by lokutus-prime:
what is all this about Ben?:lol: 😥 :insane: :bomb: :furious: :jester: :flirt: :love: :heart: :devil: :yikes: 😀 I'm still waiting the answer and thank you John 4 reminding …:confused: :zip: :wait:
hello Janean have great time and Merry Christmas to you and to all here ones again…:cheers: 😀 :heart:
I don't know what to say… just a big smile to everybody…:D 😀 😀