I teach process, a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end, from the beginning of my teaching day to the very close of the teaching day. The “P-word” as it as often referred to by current and former students, is the foundation of my teaching-life.

I too often forget, however, to incorporate “process” into our daily living.

We get to a certain age and toss the observation of process out the window. Everything in life involves process.

Over the past several years life has redirected me back to establishing my own awareness of process in so many daily moments.

Today, I had some milestones in acknowledging the steps I need to address more and more.

My steps are slower, more choreographed, perhaps, but when I refocus on process, the retraining becomes more rehearsed and steady.

Today, I climbed the stairs to the second floor on three separate occasions without holding onto the handrail or humming “Pinball Wizard” since I wasn’t bumping shoulders to walls. I repeated the descent as many times with the same success. Not only did I feel more confident, my legs felt reassured.

I also found myself rising from my seated position without using my hands and arms to brace myself. At age 56, I was feeling age 55 all over, again! I even laid down on the floor with Chief for 15 minutes and rose with far more ease than I expected.

Temperatures are moving into the mid to upper 40s with Saturday and Sunday hopefully bringing in a 55 and 58.

The past year of being physically quarantined for the year has, in so many different and amazing ways, has refocused and refreshed my mind. I’ve sorted through clothes and house items to determine what is truly necessary. I’ve done the same reassessing with my life’s line-items: what continues to matter to me? And, I’m left to wonder just how much I will allow myself to return to life as I knew it prior to March 2020.

Process. Choices. Process. Needs. Process. Desires. Process. Me.