i'm just so tired

That's what I hear myself saying, inside my head.

I'm just so tired.

It's a long walk Home, and right now I'm tired.

A friend of mine posted this to Facebook.  (Turn up the sound when you watch.)

this astonishing sequence was filmed by wild life cameraman and travel journalist Dylan Winter who is currently sailing around the UK in an 18 foot boat. You can follow his journey and see more of his work at www.keepturningleft.co.uk.

I wondered how the birds feel as they fly through these intricate patterns.  

Do they know how beautiful it is?  

Is their life one transcendent experience of joyful flight, or is there some flapping and squawking and does anybody crash into anybody else, ever, and take them out?

Is anybody up there going, "Dude, I'm done.  I'm tired.  Can we stop already?"

The starlings reminded me of another bird thing I love, from Planet Earth.

The mandarin ducks are courting. The female mandarin nests in a tree hole and when it's time for everyone to leave she leads the way. The ducklings are only twenty four hours old. It's a long drop, and a few calls of encouragement are required.

Like I said when I posted this to Facebook, I feel like life would definitely go better for us if we got the heroic music and David Attenborough narration, when we make our leaps of faith.

While looking at baby mandarin ducklings from Planet Earth, I was reminded of my favorite, favorite part of Planet Earth, from Seasonal Forests.

From the spectacular BBC production, Planet Earth.

I've always thought that this is a God's-eye view of what the season's change looks like.  

At this particular season of the year, I'm reminded that a time of rest and quiet and dormancy is a normal part of the cycle of life.

The leaves fall.  Animals hibernate.  The monarch butterflies meander off to the beach in Mexico.

I was doing some of my continuing education units for my counseling license last week, and I came across this quote:  

"Self care must be pre-emptive to be effective; it is not enough to initiate interventions after the weight of trauma work is taking its toll.  Clinicians [and I'd add, parents, spouses, friends, human beings] doing any trauma work must constantly evaluate and care for themselves first.  This can be difficult, as clinicians are trained to care for others and clients' [children's, spouses, friends, church, ministry] needs may seem more urgent.  But it is important to recognize that self care is not selfish--it is essential to ensuring that the client continues to receive the best possible care from a healthy clinician."  (NetCE.com)

I'm not 100% sure that I did my self-care pre-emptively enough, but trust me when I tell you, I'm in self-care nazi mode now.

Watching Planet Earth is part of the program.  

So is listening to Needtobreathe.

NEEDTOBREATHE's "Wasteland" from the album "Rivers In the Wasteland" - available now: http://smarturl.it/NTBwasteland For more information please visit: www.needtobreathe.com LYRICS: I'm the first one in line to die When the cavalry comes Yeah it feels like the great divide Has already come Yeah I'm wasting my way through days losing

What's your self-care regimen?