It's been nuts around here. I've worked all three shifts in the last seven days. Art and his brother were gone Sunday through late Wednesday, driving to Las Vegas and back to pick up a '72(?) Camero. Art's brother rebuilds cars. Luckily, before he left on this cross-country jaunt, Art took a day off work so we could get the bulk of the kids' Christmas shopping done. Molly and I finally went to put the artificial tree up last weekend only to find that most of the cheesy plastic pins that held the branches on were broken. So a quick trip to Menards found us lugging home a new fake tree. I am sooo not in the spirit. No baking this year. Thank heaven for Costco! One stop shopping for all your entertaining needs! Running last minute errands today I saw three deer and a beautiful red fox along the freeway near home. And then I saw these two beautiful hawks. It must be time for them to be pairing up all ready. None of the wild birds or animals I saw cared that people were racing around them. I doubt the world looked to be spinning crazily to them. Their lives are driven simply by their instincts. Maybe it's the season, or my turning 50, or the loss of my Mom, but I've been thinking a lot lately about how I want to live. I'd like a simpler life. That's a frequently heard expression these days. It's hard for me to let go and unclutter. I tend to hang on to worries as much as I do things. I really want to lighten the load and purge my house of STUFF. Knowing my habbit of fizzling, maybe I should set the goal small- a bag or two a week. There are several charities in our area that come to the house for pick-ups. Maybe someone else would find value or use in the things that I feel are closing in around me.
Letting go of the worries will be harder. Fretting over how things are compaired to how they "should be" is a major stumbling block for me. One of Mom's favorite expressions was "Pick up a rosary- it will help you let go". Well, I'm taking her advice, working on my faith and bringing some peace back into my life.
I wish you all peaceful hearts in this Christmas season.
23 comments:
I think leading more simple lives is a wonderful goal for us all Lynne. Love the hawks! Here's wishing you and yours a happy, blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with simplicity. Love and hugs to you.
Simpler is so much better. I kept everything the kids ever made at school or brought home. They are all memories I didn't want to lose. I ended up taking pictures of these things that I can look back on any time I want. Now it all fits on a couple of CDs instead of taking up boxes and boxes. Also housecleaning is so much easier without clutter. I still have too many knick knacks to dust. I'll be downsizing in that department, too.
I think Costco is a great idea. Buy the cookies and snacks I think it is better to be rested and cheerful at the holidays than be frazzled and exhausted trying to do too much.
I love to see paired birds. The hawks look happy up there. My Cardinal pair are always together when they come to feed. It's nice.
Living simpler is a goal of mine too, Lynne. I'd love to live as simple as a Shaker, but then I love all of my books and magazines. *Sigh* I love your hawks. I had the pleasure of just watching a hawk hanging closely overhead, I even had the camera in my pocket, but for some reason I felt like taking it all in without photographing it.
I wish you peace this Christmas season, too, Lynne.
Jayne-
Love and hugs to you too.
Linda- Every year I think I'll do the baking, cooking, pefect decorating, and wind up feeling bad for not getting it done. I'm fine with Costco cookies and bars. It lets me save the guilt for something else! Merry Christmas!
Pam- I know exactly what you mean about leaving the camera in your pocket. Sometimes it's best to simply enjoy!! Merry Christmas!!
Dear Linne,
Sometimes we all feel the same way you do. When life is caving in - it just gets to be too much. It's a hard time for you right now.
Worry? HA! Whether I have a legitimate reason to worry or not, I worry. I get tired of it, too. Many times I go to bed worrying and I wake up in the morning worrying :o/
Whenever I can, I get out (go down to the big pond like I've done for a few days) and BREATHE. Will you try it? If only for a few minutes?
There is love in the air and the hawks say so :o)
Hug your kids and animals. Have a wonderful Christmas!
Hugs,
Mary
Lynne,
You are so on the right track. Another way to look at the de-cluttering that works for me is to spend ten minutes in my most icky place. In that time I thow away, give away or put away. Then when that ten minutes is done. You move on. It is amazing what that can accomplish. When I finally had that epiphany that all this *stuff* did not get here in one day, I need not feel compelled to get rid of it in one day. I guess I had some totally unrealistic expectations.
There are still times that I am moved to spend much more time in one area, but I need not do that. If I continue with the ten minutes a day thing, I figure I am on the right track.
Any yay! I love my rosary.
Merry Christmas, Lynne. Sorry for the serious rambling.
such a busy time of the year! But thanks for sharing that wonderful photo for of the Red-tailed Hawks! Merry Christmas to you and your familY!
Hi Lynne,
Work, kids, holiday rush and stuff piling up....it truly IS overwhelming. I've started down the path to simplification (slowly), but it feels good taking even a few steps. It seems we all have too much "stuff" and letting some of it go may result in less worries and more time for family, yourself, and nature.
A Big HUG to you Lynne, as you proceed down the peaceful path.
Recently, an Office Depot opened near our house. Holiday gift giving made easy. Everyone is getting Post-It notes in their stockings.
I don't know if I want to live more simply or simply want to live with more control over my life. Maybe that's the same thing. I want to answer to the beat of my own drummer and not have to make compromises to earn a living and be a good neighbor and all of that stuff.
Your frantic day and longing for peace and simplicity make me sad. We live in a crazy world and most of us don't even know it. I hope more and more of us begin to think like you and start seeking a simpler life. For now, it's good you have your rosary and Hasty Brook. Take ten minutes to sit alone quietly and dream about being up North.
Have you seen Deb's (Sand Creek Almanac) "doing not trying" site? The contributors there talk about similar struggles.
OK. Thanks to Trixie, I just spent well over an hour cleaning my office. I didn't make a dent, but it sure feels good! That's the upside of being a total slob: Lots of low-hanging fruit. As my mother used to say: "A place for everything and everything in its place." Ah, there's the rub. Too many everythings and too few places, but that sure sums it up.
I guess all this is off the subject, Lynne. Sorry! There is all kinds of clutter in our crazy lives: physical clutter, busyness clutter, cultural clutter, emotional clutter. Here's hoping we all de-clutter a little in 2008!
A Red Fox is probably my favorite mammal that I've seen in my area but I don't often get a chance to see them. Best Christmas wishes to you and your family as well.
Dear May-
I WILL make time to get away for at least a few minutes every day. I'll make sure to breathe every day too!
Trixie-
I love your 10 minute idea!! I can do 10 minutes. (I am often overcome with big jobs). I always have a rosary in my pocket but I've gotten away from taking the time to say it. I've forgotten how soothing it is- kind of like rocking a baby.
Mon@rch- I was touched by the hawks' sitting so close together. Merry Christmas to you too!
Ruthie- Hugs to you too! I am determined to make a dent in the stuff.
Pablo- LOL on the Post-Its! Iunderstand what you're saying about having more control over our lives. But there are so many things in our lives that are not in our control. Those are the things that eat at me. Those are the things I need to let go of.
Mojoman-
You must have been reading my mind about missing Hasty Brook! That is my place- I wish it was closer but you are right in that I can (and do!) dream about it. And just to add to the guilt- the Home Office Inspector is in your neighborhood!!
Larry- The fox was the prettiest I've ever seen, fluffy, healthy looking, and actively hunting. It was a real treat. Merry Christmas to you and your as well.
Lynne,
I wish you a peace-filled Christmas and a happy and healthy new year. I could certainly identify with you about the clutter and busyness going on in our lives. Trixie has a great idea about taking 10 minutes a day to declutter; I think I'll adopt that one, too.
Lynne- what a coincidence...I was in the cities today for a banjo lesson and a little shopping, and the thing that made me smile the most were the red tailed hawks I saw perched on highway lights. And the flocks of mallards I saw flying everywhere!
I'm working on finding peace too, and it somehow seems more elusive than ever. Hopefully a day or two spent at home, maybe escaping for a cross country ski excursion, will help me focus.
Bummer you can't make it for the Christmas Bird Count! :( But I'll see you at Sax Zim festival!
Just stopped in to wish you and your family the best for this holiday season.
It might be a passing the fify mark thing, as that is about when I started thinking the same way. Maybe it just takes us fifty years to learn to see what is important!
Much peace,
Sandy
That's always one of my mantras: Pare it down, pare it down. Whether it's the number of keys on my keyring or the amount of junk in my living space, I am always trying (sometimes succeeding, sometimes not) to pare it down. We're planning a spring yard sale now, and that's really helping us clear out the crap.
Lovely redtails. They were probably wondering what all the human fuss was about.
Carolyn H.
Happy Holidays to you as well, Lynne.
Dear Lynne,
Nature has a way of helping us when life is over filled with "doing". I love just "being".
Simple is nice. "Easy does it" was my motto one year. I too have been letting go of items. Too much stuff! Relax and enjoy!
Happy 2008!
Hawks are beautiful. I love watching them glide and soar.
Sherry
It Dec 29 here now ... two big bald eagles were starting to do their "Kettling" high in our sky today!
Hey. Every week take just one of those "should bes" and give it a good thinking over. You'll see that many of them come from a long time ago and really aren't pertinent anymore. Give them a big Thanks and a big Hug and then send them floating away on the river in your mind, never to be seen again! Woo Hoo!
Wonderful picture..
Love to watch the red-tailed Hawks in our parks and Lake Ontario.
Happy New Year..Gisela
"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."
-- Edith Lovejoy Pierce
Wonderful picture..
Love to watch the red-tailed Hawks in our parks and Lake Ontario.
Happy New Year..Gisela
"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."
-- Edith Lovejoy Pierce
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