O'Reilly Home

To Wait

by Shaun

I’ve discovered... while I enjoy change, I don’t like waiting. Some people don’t like change, but I’ve always found it exciting and fun, like the improv game where you’re in a scene and then someone yells “freeze” and tells you that you’re now in a new scene, and “go.”  It’s electrifying! One minute “you’re Lebron James shooting a jumpshot,” and then you freeze mid-shot and become “a blade of grass trying out for American Grass Idol” (or something like that).

I like the change in that game, but I wouldn’t want to stand there frozen for very long. I’d get tired and impatient and I’d just want to be moving, either following through on the jumpshot or belting out Hendrix’s “The Wind Cries Mary” in front of the grass judges. And the thrilling, deep satisfaction in acting is that you really dive in and unleash all you’ve got into that one character or that one moment. I think it just feels good to give everything, no matter what you’re actually doing.

Some people don’t like change, but I don’t know anyone who likes to wait. 

Yet, that’s what I’m doing right now. I just turned in my second application to the Literature and Environment program at the University of Nevada, Reno. And now, we wait. Which isn’t all that new, I’ve sort of been waiting since June of 2008. I waited to apply, applied in Jan. 2009 and then I got rejected and have waited to apply again. But I think it’s starting to wear on me now.

The wear isn’t really from a need to necessarily get in (though, that’s what we’re aiming for here!). The wear has been the waiting to know what I can give myself to next. I’ve spent a year and half in a sort of limbo and I’m ready to get out.

In the improve game, I was “doing ministry with kids and families” and I called FREEZE on myself ... and the crowd (the world, the Man, me, whoever) is still talking over what my next role will be. Somebody needs to call something out and say “Go!”

And I’ll be that embarrassing blade of grass, I really don’t care. I just want to be.

On a practical note, I think I’ll know something within the month. Then I can break a leg.

Visiting "home" at Christmas

by Shaun

 It's been a good trip back to Dallas for Christmas.  Kyndra has been living here since Thanksgiving, me staying in Reno, so this was a visit to friends and family as well as a reunion for us.  Interesting, to say the least.  I expected to have to learn how to live in a new way, but I couldn't expect what that learning would be like, really.  So, the experience is still new and hard.  That story is ongoing.

What continues to be interesting is visiting "home" after living away.  It feels both extremely comfortable and foreign at the same time.  Seeing friends and former co-workers sorta starts to feel like no time has passed at all (the year and half so far!).  That's strange; but, I also like it. It is good to feel at home somewhere.

And yet, I think it's also good to be able to tell new stories to each other, and I think that's happening as I live away from "home" too.  In the end, I want to feel comfortable being back and yet uncomfortable if I don't share the little/big stories that are hidden within the days I've been away.  

On a VERY small level, I guess this is a link to the story of Christmas - a small tale hidden away in days past, told well and inspiring love and joy even today.

Merry Christmas!

The Biggest Little Lessons ...

 by Kyndra

Here's what the Biggest Little City in the World got me doing in the past year and a half ...

1.)  living simply ... reducing, reusing, recycling / amazing how this can reduce the clutter in your head also

2.)  not thinking as much, just BEING more

3.) taking time every day to see and appreciate the beauty of nature and the beauty of the human spirit

4.) supporting local biz / easy to do in a small city ... thinking this will take more deliberate choosing in a spread out suburban metroplex like DFW (taking suggestions)

5.) appreciating my friends more / I have some of the best friends and family, chances are if you are reading this you are one of them and I am so grateful for you

Advent in our Lives

by Kyndra

I am settling in at my apartment in Euless, TX. Shaun is settling back into our home in Reno, NV. I am looking forward to many things now that I am back in DFW, and one of those things is re-joining the community at Church in the Cliff (CITC).

In all the buzz of moving and taking our first step on this unknown journey we have chosen for ourselves, I was reminded by CITC that this weekend begins the season of Advent. Courtney (CITC pastor) writes ...

"... But this is Christmas-time. As we prepare for Christ's birth why not focus on hope and celebrate all things sweetness and light? ... All I can say is that our tradition is smarter than that. The ancients knew that you could not fully celebrate light and life without first waiting in the darkness. And that darkness is not always tight and gloomy, but can instead be a place of God's deepest work. It is into this darkness that we step on Sunday, the first day of the Christian Liturgical Year. We step into the deep, deep blue of the night sky just before dawn. We step into the mystery-yearning to be taught again this year that it is somehow in the waiting that we encounter the mystery of God's presence. "

I am appreciating the side by side beginning of the Christian liturgical year and the beginning of Shaun's and my journey in separate physical locations. I don't expect our journey to be easy or happy all the time, but I don't expect it to be fully dark either. I expect both. And, for now, it brings me comfort to acknowledge that the dark before the dawn, the waiting, is also a time of heart work and an encounter with "the mystery of God's presence."

All is good.

Transitioning ...

 by Kyndra

It was not long ago that I posted the excitement about my new OT job at Transition Point. Now, eight months later, I find myself transitioning from this beautiful place to something new. My time at Transition Point has been invaluable; I am not certain that words can describe the changes that have taken place in me because of the people and children I worked with there. It is a unique place where an energy of love, generosity, and hope flow freely. It is truly a magical place. I am eternally thankful to have been led to Transition Point. As I leave, I am reflecting on the many lessons I have learned and the wisdom and growth that is now a part of me ... Thank You to Judy, Jessika, and the special kids for the gifts you have given me on my journey.

1.) I have learned to believe in myself (a true gift)

2.) I have learned to have courage ...

     courage to try
     courage to be kind to myself
     courage to SHOW UP (see Elizabeth Gilbert TED talk)
     courage to do it again
     courage to trust
     courage to not worry
     courage to love

3.) I have learned to be generous

4.) I have learned to SEE the child that is in front of me, to see their spirit and draw it out

      what is their story?
      what do they need?
      what are trying to tell us?

5.) I have learned that LOVE is JUST AS IMPORTANT as everything else

6.) The children have taught me to be PRESENT

7.) I have learned that I am and we are a part of a much greater Energy

8.) I have learned to "speak my mind even if my voice shakes"

9.) I have learned to open myself up to let Life and Love flow through me

10.) I have learned that "magic" happens, and I will not forget

Running a Background Check on My Tattoo

 by Kyndra

Today, I got a tattoo! After thinking about it for two years and exploring options, I went for it!

I was so proud of myself, first of all. Getting a tattoo was unchartered territory for me; a big step for someone who does not know their pain tolerance, and who traditionally cared just a little too much what others thought.

I am feeling more and more free of those binding thoughts.

  

I'm sure a lot of people choose a tattoo for a specific reason, and while I certainly did that, I wanted to leave it open so that the meaning could evolve. I believe many lessons, wisdom, people, and even objects are growing and changing in meaning.

For now, this tattoo (for me, a swallow emerging from beauty) embodies ....

--I have had such beauty in my life because of people, because of experiences, because of myself, because of the Beauty that is Life and I now feel that I am entering into a world of adulthood where I have grown (and am still growing) into something beautiful. Taking flight.

--Going to occupational therapy school was an amazing experience. I have now entered the professional world where I am working and using skills. I am flying out into this world and testing out these unsturdy wings; the growing is scary and freeing and beautiful all at once.

--I have always found birds to be so beautiful. The curves of their body and the freedom, ease, and strength they display when they take flight speaks something to my heart that is hard to describe in words. It evokes deep feelings in me and I want that freedom, ease, and strength for myself and for others, particularly the kids I work with.

--Birds take long flights as the seasons change. This allows me to reflect on the seasons of this earth and that these seasons influence our lives. With the return of the bird, or even only a brave single bird, at the first emergence of springtime out of the winter cold brings hope to the world. I too hope to be brave and bring hope to the world and to the people I travel with on this journey.

peace.

My Paper, in Wordle

by Shaun

My first, article-length paper for the literary nonfiction class I'm taking this semester - on the link between Loren Eiseley and Wendell Berry.  I needed a representation other than the 15 pages...

Reflections on Moving

 by Kyndra

With this big decision Shaun and I have made together that I would accept this OT position and move back to Texas, I have had a deluge of thoughts running through my mind for the past two weeks. I had some time this weekend for reflection, and these are some of my questions and wonders about what life might be like for me, living away from Shaun and on my own ...

    Could this time apart be a time to exercise solitude and to explore my inner self and strength?

    What awareness and sensitivities will I come to know about the world, about myself, about my     friends, my family, our culture ... ?

    How will this experience change my marriage ... now ... and in the future?

    Will I try new things? (I'd like to think so, but we'll just have to live and see!)

    Will I be ok?

    When we come back together, how will the transition into the next phases of life for us go?

All these things I am full of wonder about. For now though, I am taking in the present moments. And I will keep taking them in one by one, trusting.

"blogworthy"

 by Kyndra

Shaun and I have gotten in the habit of claiming, "blogworthy" to certain events that we see as particularly funny or interesting enough that we think they should be published on this blog. This story, I could not pass up sharing, for it is truly, blogworthy ...

I was at work, reading to a 5 year old girl with autism who loves to learn and loves books. (I should also mention, that she really loves food too!) She chose the book Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D.B. Johnson to be read to her while she swung in her hammock-like parachute swing. 

 

As we turned to this page, and I began to read about Henry crossing a swamp and finding a bird's nest in the grass, I was abruptly interrupted from an innocent voice requesting, "Are those corndogs, Kyndra?!"

 

I was completely caught off guard (because what would corndogs be doing in a child's book based on Henry David Thoreau's life?) And then, I realized her thinking ... "No", I said, "those are called cattails. They are plants that grow in fields called marshes." 

What a reflection of the culture this generation of children are growing up in where there is little connection to where food comes from. The corndog might as well grow on a plant out in a field, right? And nonetheless, it is juxtaposed with the book series based on Thoreau's life!

Not to worry however, after this we had a wonderful 5-yr-old-appropriate-discussion on bugs eating the growing strawberries in the strawberry patch at her home. 

blogworthy? thoughts? :)

News

We have some news on the O'Reilly-Reno front!  Drumroll please ......

Kyndra will be taking a new OT job at Cook Children's in Ft. Worth, and will be moving back to the DFW area!  Tada!

Now, before any speculators get out of hand, hear the specifics:

1.  Our marriage is great, and this decision has nothing to do with us WANTING to leave/be apart from each other. In fact, because we feel so committed to one another and to the other's dreams, we are opening ourselves up to this possibility for a time.

2.  Kyndra went to OT school with the specific goal of working with children in a hospital/rehab setting. It is the setting where she was first exposed to occupational therapy and wants to give herself the chance to experience working in it early on in her career. Mostly because she has a passion to work with children and their families who are experiencing major life transitions. Unfortunately, Reno does not have this kind of work opportunity.

3.  Shaun is staying in Reno, with the goal of finishing his Literature and Environment program at UNR in Summer of 2012. He plans on being super busy, working and mastering grad school and then seeing what's next. Every time he gets lonely, he'll simply head to the library to read or write something. And, he will always be accepting visitors!

With this in mind, we are taking on this long-distance thing as an adventure. We know that the next 2 years will fly by (our first 6 years of marriage sure have), and we're looking forward to what this time will bring about! Thanks as always for your support and care, and be sure to catch an O'Reilly near you - now in DFW and Reno, NV!  :)

peace,

-shaun and kyndra