In the 'It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown' Halloween special, Charlie Brown and his friends go trick-or-treating. All of his friends get candy and meanwhile, he gets a rock. In the end, all he has is a bag of rocks. Watching this as an adult, I found the humor a little dark, but then I wondered, are there bags of rocks in my life?

Thingvellir National Park, Iceland, 2022

Every morning when I wake up, whether I realize it or not, I make a decision about how my day is going to go. It's not about the events in my day, it's about how I choose to see those events in my day. As a part of that process, I also choose what bag of rocks to carry with me.

I often like to pick up my 'I'm tired of working' bag of rocks. I drag this bag around the house, allowing it to bang up the walls of my home and spill dirt on my rugs. I like to hang on to this bag, as it's my right to carry this message. I've worked for several decades and I deserve a rest. So every morning, I choose to pick up this bag of rocks and take it with me on this workday so that I can whine just a little bit. This bag also allows me to not appreciate all that my work in the corporate world has provided to me and my family over the years. There's been enough money to live in lovely neighborhoods as homeowners in good school districts, to take trips to see family in France, and to allow both of my children to complete their college education.

I also have a great love affair with the 'this is too much work' and its close cousin 'this is too hard' bags of rocks. I like to drag them around in my yard when the weather's not quite right, or when I would rather take a nap. Or when it's time to take the vacuum cleaner downstairs to clean the basement. It's great fun balancing these bags as well as the vacuum cleaner as I make my way down the stairs. Funny thing is, the moment I put the bags down and focus on the task at hand, the rocks turn to pebbles, and 20 minutes later, the work is done!

I also rely on my friendly 'you should have known' bag of rocks. This one is more subtle and not as obtrusive when I first carry it around. It likes to sit in the background and then make its presence known a little later down the road. Like when I buy things on amazon, it hides behind the couch. And when I open up my credit card statement at the end of the month, it comes flying across the room saying 'you should have known!'. Or when eating a little too much dessert. Again, it hides beneath the dining room table, only to be giggling hysterically on my scale the next morning.

That's not to say that rocks are useless, rocks are an important part of our lives. They're integral to our homes and landscaping, beaches, forests, and mountains. It's just that collecting them in a bag and carrying them around is tiring and not the best use of my thinking.

Grand Forest, Bainbridge Island, WA 2018

Knowing that these bags of rocks are strewn about my home, I have a choice. I can either pick them up out of habit or leave them be and create new habits. It's not easy, and my brain is really attached to carrying these bags. While it's uncomfortable carrying them, it's even more uncomfortable not having them with me as they've been companions for so long. But the rest of me wants to see what happens if I stop carrying them. How might my day change if I refuse to carry these bags? What opportunities might make themselves known? How might my life be lighter if I let go of these old bags? Might there be a bag of rocks hiding under your bed? They're pretty clever and like to sneak in when no one is looking :)

A bag of rocks

cynthia lait

A bag of rocks

Choice

What kinds of problems do you want to solve?

cynthia lait