Sometimes in the New Year people make resolutions and goals, and some people choose a word of the year to reflect upon as the year progresses. I haven't considered any goals or resolutions yet, but I do keep coming back to a word. So perhaps I will have a word of the year for 2018?
December 18 changed things. Not to overstate or overdramatize the point, but it's so true that a diagnosis of cancer suddenly shone a laserlike light on our lives and almost imperceptibly made my mind start separating the wheat from the chaff. I thought I did this already! Even a "minor" cancer (which is fixed by what feels like a not-so-minor surgery, sigh) makes you stop and think.
Suddenly all sorts of things needed to be streamlined and simplified. I'm thinking about our physical environment and our mental environment, too! I'm thinking about routines, schoolwork, chores. I'm thinking about bedtimes and my own needs as well. I'm thinking about online time, too.
I had two days after Christmas before the onslaught of doctor's appointments and travel, and I spent those days working on our physical environment: a major restructuring of Annie's room (and purging), and a major purging in the sewing room. Today I plan to work in the schoolroom. I hope to tackle the kitchen tomorrow. The truth is, I'm something of a purger by nature, so I don't have a lot of excess stuff to begin with, but things to creep in, and I have a deep desire to pare down, down, down.
When I was sixteen I read these words, and they've never left me. They resonate even more with me now.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest [Polly's note: simplest] terms...." (H.D. Thoreau, Walden)
I've been thinking about reducing life to its simplest terms. My life's simplest terms are far different from Thoreau's, since I am a mother of two children in the twenty-first century; but the key is reducing it to its simplest terms given the life I am leading.
So the word that continues to loom in my mind is one that is very nearly a cliche, but does resonate with me: simplify. I have a talent for overcomplicating my life, so thinking about simplification of the entire thing--not just the easy part, the house!--is a genuine challenge, but one that I believe is worth my time and energy.
If you have simplified your life substantially in any area (possessions, routines, schedule, schoolwork, online, etc.) and want to share, please do. I'm up for learning from others' wisdom as I embark upon this process!
December 18 changed things. Not to overstate or overdramatize the point, but it's so true that a diagnosis of cancer suddenly shone a laserlike light on our lives and almost imperceptibly made my mind start separating the wheat from the chaff. I thought I did this already! Even a "minor" cancer (which is fixed by what feels like a not-so-minor surgery, sigh) makes you stop and think.
Suddenly all sorts of things needed to be streamlined and simplified. I'm thinking about our physical environment and our mental environment, too! I'm thinking about routines, schoolwork, chores. I'm thinking about bedtimes and my own needs as well. I'm thinking about online time, too.
I had two days after Christmas before the onslaught of doctor's appointments and travel, and I spent those days working on our physical environment: a major restructuring of Annie's room (and purging), and a major purging in the sewing room. Today I plan to work in the schoolroom. I hope to tackle the kitchen tomorrow. The truth is, I'm something of a purger by nature, so I don't have a lot of excess stuff to begin with, but things to creep in, and I have a deep desire to pare down, down, down.
When I was sixteen I read these words, and they've never left me. They resonate even more with me now.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest [Polly's note: simplest] terms...." (H.D. Thoreau, Walden)
I've been thinking about reducing life to its simplest terms. My life's simplest terms are far different from Thoreau's, since I am a mother of two children in the twenty-first century; but the key is reducing it to its simplest terms given the life I am leading.
So the word that continues to loom in my mind is one that is very nearly a cliche, but does resonate with me: simplify. I have a talent for overcomplicating my life, so thinking about simplification of the entire thing--not just the easy part, the house!--is a genuine challenge, but one that I believe is worth my time and energy.
If you have simplified your life substantially in any area (possessions, routines, schedule, schoolwork, online, etc.) and want to share, please do. I'm up for learning from others' wisdom as I embark upon this process!
No comments:
Post a Comment