In Her Shoes

The other night Paul valiantly turned on the DVR to a movie that he had recorded for me. He felt that I had "earned" a chick flick. It was a movie that neither of us had heard of, but its title definitely had "chick flick" potential.

In Her Shoes.

Whether or not you decide to see this movie, I offer my standard disclaimer. I definitely believe watching the movie will require a filter. Especially, I suspect, if you elect to watch the movie unedited for television. But, its story had me in uncontrollable sobs by the end. Sobs that were healing but hard.

Poor Paul.

2011 marked a new journey for me. One that had me miles from where I started, when I graduated from Cal Poly ready to impart teenagers with a passion of literature.

The protagonist in the movie, through several gut wrenching events, completely uproots her life. She walks away from a promising career in law and becomes a dog walker. Through her journey, which I suspect is far more developed on the pages of the book than it was in the movie, she is healed.

Healed from the need to protect others.

Healed from the need to secure her importance in this world.

Healed from the need to be anything other than what she is.

Healed from the need to hide behind her success.

I, like the protagonist, needed healing. The evidence of this mounted as 2010 marched onward. At the end of 2010, I walked away from education and my "need" to help students everywhere and crawled toward lives of my precious babies.

To say that 2011 was an adjustment would be the biggest understatement I've ever made. Never did I think I would walk away from my career.

Today, I bake cakes to help people celebrate life's accomplishments and joys. Occasionally, I substitute teach in classrooms throughout Highlands Ranch.

Today, I am healed.

Tomorrow, I find my voice!