I haven't posted in a couple weeks and I think it is because I have had a case of writers block. That and I have been in a mad scramble....mostly of my own making......as usual......to put together some freelance opportunities. Today was the first day in several that I have had a moment to breathe......kind of sounds like everyone's life huh??
I was thinking today about how much joy writing this little ol' blog has given me and wondered what I should right about next.......hmmmmmm........couldn't come up with much. I started reading some other blogs and articles and it seemed as though I kept running across writers talking about how they write even when they don't think they have anything to write about. They write for practice, they write when they are empty of ideas, they write because even writers.....even the really great ones have middles. Places where there is nothing new and exciting but nothing is done and definite yet either.
Oh those damn middles.......
So I racked my brain all day today, having the feeling like I wanted to write, like I needed to but not sure about what. I was stuck in this trap of believing that I had to have some phenomenal happening.....some great epiphany before I could start to let my fingers talk. I started to think about how the purpose of this blog for me is to try and spread joy. To try and spread love, humor, honesty, connection.....oh the list got long........the list needed a list by the time I was done.
It occurred to me that I should maybe write about the "little" things that have been bringing me joy lately. I'm a big believer in little things.....little things make big things happen....little things change lives......little things have changed my life......more then once actually.
Springtime provides us all a great environment to look for and start to notice "little" things......I was walking today on a trail near my house....I am super lucky and live where there are a million "little" trails....but today I was on a section of one that I usually don't do and the change in scenery helped me to notice all of the life that is coming out right now.
"Little" blades of green poking out on the sides of the trail......"little" buds that will soon explode into blossoms on trees......"little" chirps in trees from birds that have just found their voices. Lots of "little" things out there today......made me smile.....made my heart BIG.
I have "little" leaves of spinach and lettuce coming up in my garden. My chickens have started to work hard at giving me 2 "little" eggs a day again so I can make my fried egg sandwich in the morning and say a "little" thank you to them for their participation and hard work.
I went on a "little" trip awhile ago and was eating breakfast in a restaurant where I started to talk to a couple that was sitting behind me. Through the course of conversation we discovered that all of us were entrepreneurs of some kind and we exchanged mailing addresses. A couple days ago I received a "little" package from them with a set of these beautiful cards with their photographs on them.
I took my Frida Kahlo fabric and made my first pillowcase......this "little" piece of decor makes me smile EVERY time I see it.....and it makes me feel like a badass because I made it. If Frida Kahlo saw it she would give me a high-five.
Then when Ms M saw it she thought it was so cool she wanted to rummage through my fabric and have one of her own out of a pattern she picked.
I was able to make her a one-of-a-kind...full of handmade mistakes pillowcase and felt like the Mom of the year award was now in the bag........27 inches of fabric....that "little" amount of material and a "little" amount of time gave me a feeling that I have lost sleep over not having.......but "mom guilt" is way to heavy and complex of a subject for this time....besides we are focusing on JOY dammit.....
I took a "little" bit of time off and went down to see my grandparents. My grandma and I talked in her living room until midnight about all the "little" things and I am more convinced than ever that when I grow up I want to be just like her.........It's the "little" things I tell ya.......
My amazing girl who took her first "selfie" decided that I was the person she would send it to and then we spent the rest of the night taking ridiculous selfies and laughing hysterically......because when you have BIG things like each other you can make quality entertainment out of almost any "little" thing.
So as I was thinking about how nothing BIG had happened to me....at least nothing that warranted a post anyways....... I found out that a ton of "little" things had been happening all along that make my life really really BIG and awesome, and wonderful.
You read posts and quotes and inspirational articles all the time about this right? "stop and smell the roses"..."take time to play"....."slow down".......etc......it all can be so overwhelming.
I feel like I should start scheduling moments of joy so they make their way in there....I might miss them if I don't give them a spot on the agenda. When in reality I just want a day where we all have clean socks and underwear.........where the house isn't out of control....where I don't feel like I have left my mind somewhere and have no hopes of ever recovering it...where after balancing my personal finance spreadsheet 4 times in a morning I don't realize I have missed a bill and a dentist appointment all in the same day........you give me that shit and I will stop to smell whatever you want......
And this is what I have noticed.....that while trying to get the clean socks and underwear in check I find "little" things....like notes from my daughter about how much she loves her new favorite band and I laugh out loud about what 13 feels like and how cool it is that music warrants a love note to the universe at that age....it also makes me think that maybe I should have sent that love letter into Def Leppard circa 88 after all...hmmmm.....maybe another time.
When I am trying to clean off that one thing in my kitchen that is supposed to hold my cookbooks but literally ends up being the biggest junk magnet I own I find a knick-knack that has been passed down to me through generations.......(who all kept it on their junk magnet cabinet/table/shelf thing to.......I know it.) and I dust it off and put it in my kitchen window so when I am trying to sort through the sink full of dishes I look at it and it makes the dishes not so bad and I smile.
And how I get really really grateful that today I am in a place where that bill I forgot can be paid.....not ignored because there just isn't the money to deal with it and that I can drop it off in the mail on my way to the dentist appointment that I rescheduled because I am a grown up and I know for sure that if I can be proactive about keeping my teeth I should.
All those little things......
What "little" things have made your life BIG lately??
One Love,
Danielle
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