Daily life is perhaps the most often missed opportunity for impact. It seems to me so many folks are focused on what they can have, do, or become tomorrow. The move to #TheTackyBrownHouse has impressed upon me the beauty of now. I’ll admit that some of those lessons had to come at a price, such as living without hot water for weeks in single digit weather. Funny how not putting off until tomorrow became much more clearly focused when the putting off caused cold showers and no baths!
How silly are we really? We often pine away for weeks or months or even years for a location vacation, an experience such as prom, or that moment we marry, and we idealize that living moment as THE event of our life. I don’t know about you, but I have learned a secret these last three months. This moment is worth what ever it takes to live the life I want to experience daily. As I write this morning I am looking at a clothes line that has my clothes on it. The dryer plug is one of those things that we’re waiting on the electrician to get back to us to engage. (small town calendaring) Some would believe that this is a great inconvenience. I am here to share with you that home keeping is NOT my special gift. I will also share with you that the lack of some modern conveniences (even on rainy days) has been a wonderful invitation to think, experience, and find quiet time for my soul. When I am hanging up the wash, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and often in my world a little dog is running around my heels begging to be played with. It typically takes less than 5 minutes to hang our wash. I take a few more moments to water a plant, play with one of the fluffs or Missy our lab. It is not unusual anymore for me to bring out a glass of ice water to enjoy the moment after I’ve hung the wash. All of these moments are less than fifteen minutes in the entirety, but oh how rich the day becomes with such experiences. I never loved my dryer, though I value its convenience on rainy days, but I love this clothes line! Have you smelled freshly sun dried towels? My roses are near and often they smell faintly of roses.
As we learn to acclimate to this currently 1350 sq ft home it is becoming apparent that less is more. Our children and friends come to gather and if there is a crowd we often do gather in the home, but often if it is early evening or morning we gather outside in our iron furniture. The yard is still askew, there are few plantings, it is not an elegant place. However the trees call to us, the greens and sunlight peeking through the trees a vivid reminder that the world is alive and it is not contained within four walls.
Yesterday my grandchildren dropped by for a few moments. I love that they know that the brown house is where they are loved. They ask to go to the Brown House and yesterday the first things out of my Granddaughter’s mouth was Mimi!!! with glee, the first time she has called me that name as her older brother does. She often calls me Lovey when we are 1:1, but she seems to know the public version is his. 🙂 Grandson from day one has pronounced me Mimi…as though perhaps I didn’t know my name.
The new shelves in the kitchen are but two at this point. I am pleased with the ability to put them away now without opening a cabinet door. Before I had used a glass showcase to host our needed items until we have a better solution. I want to use open shelves in this tiny kitchen. It presents a small issue for she who loves multiple sets of dishes, but about a year ago I decided mine would be based in white ironstone and then we’d add salad plate sets to have more choices seasonally. We still have Christmas dishes, Autumn dishes, Polka Dot Patterns and the daily set of white, but there is supposed hope that narrowing will continue to happen. Daughters and friends have a way of falling in love with some pieces and I believe they should go home with those who love them!
Moments to enjoy living are where ever you are. This week while in Nashville it meant grabbing fresh food and heading to the beautiful countryside of Franklin for a break instead of Sonic. It meant delighting in cloth napkins when I found them in just the tones I wanted and not putting off setting the table for company that night, but using them in my suite for a friend who had gathered while I was in town. It often looks like small treasured moments like using my favorite scent instead of the one that was there because I wasn’t paying attention to my preferences…or choosing the coffee you truly love instead of the one that is on sale…not that they can be mutually exclusive!
Living this moment also means letting go…for me that means hard stops in my life now. Hard stops scheduled for work time, for letting things get to me when someone has had a disappointment. It’s about knowing that tomorrow may not come and I want to make darn sure this one doesn’t get away in silly habits such as worry, or fear.
I believe that we do with the knowledge we have at hand, making the best decisions we can at the time…and if they do not work out the way we intended, we learn, we review what we missed, and we go forward again more aware and able to experience the life we sought. How about you? In Sweetieland there are many opportunities to learn, retry, and do over…but oh the joy of simply doing some days….and knowing I did…it sure beats the experience of waiting for someday to come.
Loved this!
Thank you Betty, I so am honored by your presence