Yes, the movie with Dustin Hoffman and Will Farrow. Running late on my blogging (this was inteneded for 1/3) because hubby and I watched this movie after our company left. He fell asleep on the sofa so missed a lot, but that's okay. We'll watch it again together. He's felt poorly all day; think he's coming down with something.
Tonight (oops last night) had fun. My sister-in-law and her husband came over to play cards. We used to do that a lot but it's been ages since the last time. So we ordered subs from Zero's, caught up on family news a little. (My missing neice, Katherine, might be in Georgia now. Long story which is likely part fiction.) Played Phase 10 which can be fairly lively; joked and laughed.
A simple, pleasant evening, all in all.
Later, while watching the movie, I randomly opened a book I'd bought some time ago and re-discovered on my shelf recently. It's called Stirring The Waters: Writing To Find Your Spirit by Janell Moon, who is a college writing professor and hypnotherapist..
I love to collect books about writing and this one is filled with wonderful quotations and lots of excellent ideas for topics to write about in your journal.
Tonight the first thing I saw when I opened the book to a random page was this:
"I am right where I am supposed to be." The exercise that accompanies this suggests asking yourself these questions: 1)"How can I simplify my life in . . . " these areas: "Home, Lifestyle (include shopping and wardrobe), Personal Relationships, and Healthy Eating." 2) "What would be the threat in simplification . . ." in these areas? 3) What would be the happiness to be found in doing this? 4) "What would the process be to simplify and find your way to happiness?"
Doesn't this seem appropriate for the new year since we associate a new year with resolutions for positive change? I think so.
So, how can I simplify my life? Because Moon happens to be right; there are some ways I need simplification.
Home: the biggest issue for me is decluttering. closely followed by a consistent approach to housekeeping. What's the threat here? I might declutter and throw out something I'll need or want later. The happiness? Less to keep clean! And a more consistent approach to housekeeping sounds like putting more time and energy into it. The threat with that is more fatigue and pain and less time/energy for doing what I want to do. The happiness? I like a clean house as well as anyone and I know my husabnd would appreciate it if my cleaning was more consistent. If I could manage to get into a better routine, eventually it would be less labor intensive and therefore less fatiguing and painful to keep up. Getting to that point is the killer! And no, I can't afford to hire a maid service to get things clean and straight so that all I'd have to do is upkeep.
Lifestyle: mine is pretty simple already as far as wardrobe goes. I don't get out much so haven't much of a wardrobe and this past summer ruthlessly cleaned out the closet and dresser, giving away or throwing away things that I no longer used or could fit into, or things that were worn out. The threat was that I wouldn't have anything to wear for certain occasions should they come up. However, that wasn't real since I could no longer wear those clothes comfortably anyway! The happiness was in having less to go through in the closet. As far as shopping goes, this must be meant to refer to my penchant for collecting sewing and craft materials. The threat presented by not shopping for certain things for projects is having to make due with lesser materials I might have on hand. The happiness is more money in the bank.
Personal Relationships: simplify seems an odd word to apply here but I'm thinking on it. What does it mean to simplify a relationship? Did Moon mean giving up those relationships that no longer "fit" where people are just going throught the motions? Or does she perhaps mean learning to let someone else be "right."? Not pushing your point of view, not escalating an agrument - simply refuse to argue?
Healthy Eating: yep, need to improve there and one way to simplify that would be to only buy things that are good for me - no junk food! The threat: missing the tast of chocolate! Lol. Seriously, I know the answer is all things in moderation. If you don't purchase anything but healthy foods you risk having a snack attack and finding nothing in the kitchen to suit your cravings. You risk having the blues and wanting comfort food and finding there is none. On the other hand, happiness would be the body responding in gratitude for more water, less coffee; more vegetables less sugar. And lower blood glucose levels, lower cholesterol, etc., etc.
Definitely worht thinking about.
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