Pack your bag! Our January Journey Starts Tuesday!
When we think of January, we imagine a lovely stretch of road beckoning us onward. There are two signposts. One looks like the one in the picture; creative, and with so many choices! However just before it, the first one we see says,
This Way for 7 Wonders of Joyful Learning.
The road is marked Jubilation Way. We are a mixed group, yet magically, within the melting pot of our common humanity we are each able to read the road's name in our native language.
Looking a bit further, we see a picnic table nearby under a broad shade tree. On the way toward the table, like a lighthouse beacon showing us the way, is a huge cooler full of water, lemonade and sweet tea, sort of like those open chests you see on commercial fishing boats (wait a minute...is that one with the pineapple wedge a Mai Tai?!?) Halfway under the tree's canopy and halfway warmed by the sun is a birdbath on a safely-tall pedestal, and the delighted birds playing there seem to be singing just for us. Again we are struck by our common understanding, for they seem to say to us, "What's your hurry? Sit for a moment."
So we reach in the cooler, grab something to drink, and sit.
On the table is a large basket with an odd collection of surprises. Individually wrapped fortune cookies. Blank journals and pencils without erasers. Colored chalk. Compasses without arrows. Harmonicas. Band-aids. Match boxes and dental floss in mini ziploc bags. Sunscreen in disposable packets. Wi-Fi cards. Marbles.
Underneath everything, and best of all, a thick stack of shipping forms prepaid to the "Packer's Home" by someone named "Benevolent Baggage Keeper." We then notice the bin of neatly stacked cardboard boxes on the other side of the tree. A placard attached to the basket reads,
Refreshment stops are plentiful along the way, easily found by those who look for them. Just pack what you feel you need and are happy to carry with you on the journey. Leave the rest.
As I consider this offer I free a fortune cookie from its cellophane wrapper. I snap the cookie in half, and take an appreciative bite. It's just-right crisp. The fortune reads, "As you pack, remember: You are not alone. Your friends will be with you." I look at my friends and see JJL faces. We are all reading, and we are all smiling.
Taste. Believe.
Trust. Reconsider.
Adapt. Experiment.
Adventure.
Imagine and Dream.
Then, repack your bags. Fill out your shipping form.
Now hoist the backpack you decided to keep, for we walk from here. It's so much lighter, yet you've thought about it carefully, and you know you kept the right things. And guess what? You have room for that harmonica and tiger-eye marble after all...
Throughout January, our contributing authors will let us know what they decided to pack, and perhaps, what they decided to ship back home. Be sure you have your JJL subscription ready! Think of it as your free ticket to Jubilation Way.
Would you like to Guest Post for JJL in January?
Take a look at all these "signpost" clusters, and tell us, which one would you be most inclined to follow? What do you imagine you will learn along the way? Write your story and email it to our Community Mailbox. We'll publish it in January for you.
A wooden Signpost buried in sand by Richard Leonard on Flickr. The Rural Signpost above was snapped by Marvin Beatty, and also found via Flickr.
~ Rosa Say, JJL Contributor, and author of Managing with Aloha Coaching
on behalf of Joyful Jubilant Learning
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