Notes About The Poem
~ this is about an important life transforming moment in my life ~
Listen to poem:
Paradigm Shift
For years and years
I lived the curse of all women
A woman’s work is never done
That is, never finished
The more work I did the more work showed up
The To Do list was never ending
If I made a dent in it
You couldn’t tell
It was multiple pages and still
I refused to forget a single item
I used to work my To Do list and hope
For some opening somewhere somehow someday
Where I would be able to read, take a candlelit bath
Go for a leisurely walk, paint, write poetry
It never happened
My ever growing To Do list
Had stopped even giving me the glimmer of hope
I was just that crazy hamster busy at her wheel
Till one day
I was late with a painting I had promised
I was pushed to the wall I had no choice
I just had to focus on my craft and not think of anything else
I went at it and focused and focused
It wasn’t easy but I eventually got it done
It was an awesome feeling to finally sign my name
And say it was D-O-N-E
But my celebration was more to me
About having won over time
Time who had always been so elusive
So demanding so full of orders and ultimatums
Seeming so rigid and inflexible
All of a sudden I had decided
I would ignore it
Along with my long list of To Do’s
And surprisingly life went on…
Nothing drastic happened
Nothing fell apart
Nothing exploded
I was actually stunned to tell you the truth
I had once learned about
The differences between Important and Urgent
But my power over it never really sunk in until then
Now I have a new life
Where my Important priorities are in front of me
Where I can reach the one or the other
And the dishes get done but not till I decide to take a break
I do my best to add less to my To Do list
And most of all, pace myself instead of
Trying to kill myself racing through it all
It may seem to you like a small paradigm shift
But to me, my life is turned inside out for the better
AP: 2nd place 2020, Honorable Mention 2021
Submitted on August 21, 2017 for contest THE POET'S OWN sponsored by GREG BARDER - RANKED 4TH
PS featured in 2021
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