Monthly chai date

What is it about the peeking through of long-ago planted bulbs to change people's perspectives on the coming days? Somehow the cold air and wind chill feel much differently when the sun is shining with all its might, and the brightest green we can remember is breaking ground. It's all we can do to not reach out and touch it. There's something about rebirth.I attended a birth recently where the entire feeling in the room changed when the laborer witnessed the baby's crowning head in the mirror, when the partner realized this peeking through of a long-ago created being was about to join the rest of us. It was all they could do to stop pushing and just touch the baby's head. There's something about birth.If we were having chai together, I would struggle to talk about how my work is going. I find myself struggling when even those closest to me ask, "How's work?" It's a similar struggle to returning from international work, and people ask how it was. It is beautiful, tragic, emotional, triumphant... Are you asking for a quick response? Then I'll say "Busy!" If you're asking for a little more, perhaps I'd say, "I love what I do, but not where I do it." But if we had more time, I would still say that I believe in where I am practicing midwifery, though I continue to struggle with it personally. The women still make it all worth it. This past weekend, in the presence of family and friends, I fell silent after describing work in one or two words. I have not appropriately prepared to answer that question in a stock fashion. As Jack Daniels would say, "Everyday we make it, we make it the best we can."If we were having chai together, I would share all of the hard work my partner and I have been putting into our student loan and personal finance blog, TheLoanVoice. We are creating it in the mindset of those closest to us trying to plan their financial lives, while simultaneously planning for school, family, vacations, and retirement. Would love for you all to join us over there and on Twitter @theloanvoice.If we were having chai together, I would share my love of Centering. I know I have discussed this before, but my passion continues. I am attending the official training later this month, and thanks to a brief intermediate training a while ago, I started providing Centering care recently. It's such a change to the daily clinic, and so powerful to see the women I started to know in the quiet space of a clinic room open up and share with each other in the Centering space.If we were having chai together, I would gush about the upcoming vacation we have planned. So, so needed.With the upcoming vacation, I am also working on my own personal body image love. I have ramped up my workouts, am running more often and have integrated some weight lifting. I am feeling awesome. I constantly promote a positive body image in others, but this is a personal struggle of mine, and I find that working out regularly makes me feel stronger, and strengthens my belief in my own body.If we were having chai together, I would ask how you handle repetition in your work. How do you stay fresh for each moment that feels like a repeat of the one before, and you hear yourself like a broken record? I know and recognize nuances and beauties within each, but such is my struggle with clinical work versus my past in public health.Over the remnants of my chai foam, I would ask what your spring is holding for you. Did the recent full moon bring any surprises your way? Have you planted some veggies in planning for your summer harvest? Have you reached out to those people who bring you the most power and love and support, and for whom you recognize that you provide the same? What respite are you looking forward to?Happy April, y'all.