It’s been a busy couple of weeks. And in the middle of it all, things got a little crazy. The only way I can describe it is to say that I felt like I was living my life through a tilt-shift lens. I was still going to work. I was still playing soccer. I was still teaching Primary. I was still hosting houseguests, and hanging out with friends, and seeing movies and Broadway shows.  I was still living my life, but almost everything was a blur, pushed into the background and this one thing*, this one issue, was the only thing in focus.

As I’ve thought back on similar moments in my life, moments when really hard or bad or sad things have happened, it’s always the same. I always get lost in a tilt-shift view. I think it’s probably true for most people. I feel like my life will never be back in balanced focus. How could it be when something so difficult has turned my world on end? (A little dramatic, yes…but that’s how it feels.) I know nothing will make it go away. There’s no photoshop for life, but slowly, the focus shifts shifts given enough time and what was the only thing in focus becomes just a few pixels in my current life photograph.

And that’s where I am today. The focus has shifted and I can see everything again and life is good. Sure, there is this new thing that is part of my photo, but it’s just one thing in a photograph capturing my whole life. Not the only thing. Just one of many. And now that I have this analogy for these moments, I’m hoping I will learn to adjust the focus a little faster every time, or at least remember that, eventually, the focus will change, because for me there’s nothing worse than being in the depths of a tilt-shift moment without hope of balance returning.

*I know most of the time I am ridiculously open on the blog…but this is one of those times I just can’t be. But I still need to write about it because writing is my catharsis. I hope you’ll understand.