I did. In my journal, I made a very short list of seven things that I love to do. Seven. I was very honest with myself and didn't include anything that I felt I ought to love doing, or used to love doing. The list was for myself, and I included only the things I honestly loved, and I brutally left off everything else.
No music made the list.
No soap making, no lotion. No yarn.
Lots of things didn't make that list, and particularly things that involve groups of people. Being with people can be wonderful, and I love people ... but being with groups usually doesn't bring me feelings of peace and contentment.
Then I mentioned this short list at Prayer Shawl on Thursday. We agreed that it's good to reassess ourselves regularly and ask ourselves: What do I love doing? And be willing to let some things go that we no longer enjoy.
Yikes. It's hard to give up things we've done for years, even decades. Will it feel good to give them up? Will I regret it? How long do I wait to do it -- until I'm so sick of activities and resent doing them? I'd truly love to know if any of you have thought about this, made a short list of your own.
What else is going on with us? I did a post about our farm (such as it was) this past summer. If any of you missed it, click over if you like.
Do any of you remember that, long ago, I was making an Advent Calendar? I wove a piece of fabric, folded it into a calendar, and started crafting little figures to go on it. Here's some photos from two years ago:
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| weaving it on the loom |
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| finishing edges and mounting on a rod |
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| little pockets for figures |
But ... now Isaac is here! (Isaac -- all things Isaac -- made my short list, of course!) I'm working on the Advent pieces again!
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| Wise Man #1 |
Something else delightful happened this week. A friend invited me to come to her grandson's 2nd grade classroom at school and do a read-aloud of my picture book, The Thanksgiving Mice.
A pair of snowflake earrings are important in the story, but I don't have a pair. In the hardware store the day before the read-aloud, I saw these on their store-decorated Christmas tree. The lady (who'd found them at the local Salvation Army) said I could borrow two for the day.
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| Baguettes for French onion soup |
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| challah bread in a loaf |
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| finger-sized sugar cookies dipped in dark chocolate |
12 comments:
I love this post and agree with it heartily. Life is just too short to do things you don't love - I just let go of a huge box of stamps today. This box was so big I could not pick it up and it is now gone. I'm not seeing it every time I walk through the house - I used to love to stamp, paper crafts but no more - crocheting is much easier since I spend more and more time in doctor's offices with my dad and I enjoy the art & creativity of crocheting and sharing it with friend snap family.
Crazy as it sounds I don't know what I'd put on my list. There are lots of things I LIKE to do but what do I LOVE to do, that is a hard question to answer.
How wonderful that you could go and read your Thanksgiving story to the class of grade two's. I remember how M loved me reading about Punkin and the tiny mouse. I wonder if he'd let me read it to him again. Ten is a funny age, he's growing up too fast for my liking.
All Adam's baking looks SO good. Especially the sugar cookies dipped in chocolate. My stuff tastes good but never really looks that nice.
What joy to have your family coming home for Thanksgiving. You didn't say whether Isaac will be coming ( with his mom and dad of course) but if he does he'll already be changed from the last time you saw him. Oh the joy of babies!!
One of the joys of small town life is being able to borrow two snowflakes off of the hardware store's Christmas tree! My hubby used to get annoyed with me because I never stuck with hobbies very long. He didn't get my sample-a-little-of-everything mentality. If you stick with a few things all your life how will you have time to try other things? Anyway, I stuck with the important things: my marriage, homeschooling my kids and Jesus. The rest is play. I'd have a hard time making a list. It would change before I could hit the publish button! :)
I would have a hard time making a short list too. Like you, I do know that things involving groups of people would not be on my list. But I do enjoy craft bazaars. Congratulations on getting to read your little book to the children. Wish I could have listened in. Those baked goods look wonderful!
Gardening, reading, writing. I could let everything else go, or preferably, let other people cook, clean, sew, do housework, laundry, as per my instructions - haha!
Those snowflakes didn't start out as earrings, did they? How did you attach them to your ears? With ornament hooks? :-) I think they would make my ears hurt within an hour, they are so big. But very festive!
It feels so good to let go of things that are kind weighing you down. I'm glad you moved on to crocheting :)
GM, Isaac IS coming for Christmas! It will be a very festive, busy, wonderful month!! I'm so glad M enjoyed the Punkin book.
You're right, Lisa -- much of it is just shifting from one fun hobby to the next, on and on :) And there's nothing wrong with that! You did stick with the essentials, for sure :)
It's interesting how many ladies I know are struggling to even make a list. That tells me that they're not even considering, day to day, what they might love doing. I find that strange. Maybe we need to think about this more.
Now I'm fascinated that you, GJ, were immediately able to give your list! You've pondered this a little, I think. It's good to know what you love, even if the goal is NOT to ditch everything else.
The snowflakes were very, very lightweight ornaments, hardly there. I wore other earrings that they could simply hang onto with the little loop on them. They scratched my neck.
As soon as posted that comment, I realized how thin it looked, my little list, because it doesn't include the most essential parts of my LIFE, church life and family. So I guess it's discretionary time...? Time that is "free to spend as one pleases." (Just looked up the definition.)
The reason I could be so quick is that I have been thinking about this intensely for more than four years, as I "create" my new life, or guide it as it reveals itself ? since becoming a widow. And more recently, to some degree I'm having to do without the things that I most love, as I try to cope with the current remodeling chaos and at the same time get ready for the Big Event that Christmas is going to be this year.
But it helps to have the vision and understanding, and the hope of getting to an ever more sane place. ;-)
Ooh, I wish I could grow coriander- I love it! Your Advent calendar is gorgeous as is all the weaving!
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