Tuesday Slice: Seed on the path

Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.

As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up."

--Matthew13: 3-4

A bitterly cold

and icy day

prompting schools to close

I spend much 

of the morning staring

out my back window

at the birds

quickly devouring

a feeder full of seed

They need more, I think.

I fill up the seed container

put on my coat and

trudge outside

'round the house to

the backyard

frozen grass crunching underfoot

Pour seed into the feeder that

hangs where a swing once swayed

toss peanuts and corn on the

end of the green plastic slide, now 

covered in a frosty glaze

Heading back 'round to the

front of the house, I spy a

swallow, or is it a wren, hopping on

the roof

So I pour a bit of seed on

the path to the door, thinking

the bird will see, call its friends, and

fill their little bellies

But it's been hours now, and

I look through my peephole, finding

the seed still there, as

freezing rain lightly falls

I call my husband at his work to

warn him of the icy rain, and

tell him not to crush the

seed underfoot on

his way to the door.

Tuesday Slice: My first bujo

 

I have a mile-high stack of blank journals, culled from warehouse sales of big-name planner companies, stationery sites, and bookstores. When I get brave enough to fill the pages of one, it's almost always for penning gratitude lists, morning pages, or some sort of diary. 

I've never tried bullet journaling, though.  I've attended mini-workshops about it, even bought the book (that I haven't read yet).  I already use a pre-printed, customized planner from a favorite website, so why recreate the wheel?  The dot-grid notebooks in my stash call out to be filled...but with what?

Two things happened in the last two weeks to get me to dip my toes into "bujo"--my friend gifted me with a beautiful dot-grid journal, and I went to my first appointment with a new general practitioner.  I walked out of the latter with two pages of tasks to complete--appointments to make and stats to track.

Bingo.

I made a list of what I would put in the journal, starting with a table of contents for easy reference--the first four pages.  I numbered the next dozen or so, and dove in.  On page one are my notes and to-do list from the doctor's appointment.  Page two is a weight tracker with Sunday dates filled in.  Page three is a general list of doctor and lab appointments, with date and reason, for quick reference.

That's as far as I've gotten, but I've got other trackers to enter (blood pressure for one--the doc wants me to keep a diary of that for the next annual visit).  It will all go in there:  exercise, dental and eye appointments, lab and imaging results.  My own little medical record, embellished with stickers and paint pens and maybe even watercolors and fancy lettering, when I get brave enough to attempt those.

As I was perusing the internet for health-related trackers, I discovered that pre-printed journals for such already exist.  But where's the fun in that?

Tuesday Slice: Puttering

A full day off, and a full to-do list.  It started off well enough.  Still in pajamas and before my husband left for work, I had replaced the pictures on the mantel left bare from packed-up Christmas decor.  I even got a bit of cleaning in, since the frames had gathered dust over the holidays, and hey, once the dust cloth is out, why not swipe it over a few more surfaces?

Then hubby was out the door, and the puttering started.

I packaged up some gifts to send to friends...and birdwatched.

Started a load of laundry...and played a game on my phone.

Did a little workout...and read work emails.

Took a shower...and checked Facebook.

Went to the kitchen to fix brunch...filled the bird feeder and fed the squirrels instead.

Finally ate brunch, rebooted the laundry...and watched reels on Facebook.

You get the gist.  Five p.m. arrived before I knew it, and I had barely touched the decluttering projects I had lined up, or the school work that needed to be completed.  I only read a few pages of my fun read, not the "serious" stuff or kidlit.

After completing the work-related stuff at ten-thirty pm last night, I set the screen time limit on my phone.  Looking forward to some crossed-off items on that to-do list today...and a decent bedtime.

Tuesday Slice: For the love of paper

 

A friend gave me a box of goodies from Archer & Olive yesterday.  

She may have mentioned the site before...but I hadn't ventured over to it.  

Archer & Olive may be the next drain on my discretionary spending funds.

The goodie package is Valentine themed, the contents in shades of pink and peach.  It includes a cute glittery heart-shaped box that you pop open for goodies (mine has heart-shaped clips--perfect for a photo string--and sweet stickers). There's  a little envelope of color-yourself valentine postcards.  Enameled keychains are in another little box, and opaque acrylic pens in yet another.  And at the bottom...a journal.

Not just any journal.  This one is dot-grid, with 160 gsm paper--so those acrylic pens don't bleed through.

I've never played with acrylic paint pens in a journal.  I had to look up what "gsm" stands for.  I'm both excited and terrified of putting those pens to that paper.  But I'm ready to try.  

My friend knows how to make me smile and challenge me at the same time--a great combination in a companion.

Spiritual Journey Thursday: Catching myself unawares

Margaret has asked us to share our One Little Word 

on this Spiritual Journey Thursday.

Her post is here.

 

I didn't choose One Little Word (OLW) for 2023.  I chose an OLW for just the first three months of 2023.  (You can read that explanation here.)  And my OLW for the first quarter of the year is

Conscious.

It's been five days of living with this word, and here's my biggest revelation:  I have a very hard time being present for, and sometimes dealing with, very current circumstances.  Here are some examples:

Instead of greeting the day with a stretch and a check-in with my body and heart, my brain starts listing the reasons I can't hit the snooze button (morning routine, feeding the birds, I'll fall asleep again and run late...)

Instead of just making coffee and emptying the dishwasher, I'm thinking about whether or not my pants will fit, what I'm going to write in my morning pages, what my upcoming appointment with a new doctor will be like...

Instead of enjoying a hot shower, the litany of work tasks and unanswered emails I've sent is on loop in my mind, causing me to pause and wonder if I've remembered to soap up...

Instead of directly dealing with a task that may take me longer than I'd like, I stop to eat chocolate...

Instead of being fully present to people I'm speaking with, I'm still mentally running that work list...

Instead of fully enjoying all the stuff I have to make my life enjoyable, I'm easily enticed by sales of the next great/ fun/ helpful/ fix-all-your-problems thing...

You get the idea. I have prided myself on not living in the past or being a worrier, but I also suffer from living too much in the future.  I'm robbing myself of the present.

My first baby steps are a few moments of silent meditation before my morning reading, and consciously engaging my senses in the shower in an attempt to drown out the mental chatter.  I caught myself working hard to be present in a training this week, too, and avoiding multitasking as much as possible (THAT is hard!).

Hopefully, my Spiritual Journey Thursday post in March will document some improvement in my ability to be as fully present as possible--and I'll be able to pick another OLW for the next quarter. 

Tuesday Slice: My OLW for the first quarter of 2023

 

I'm trying something different this year,  using a new-to-me version of goal-setting planners.  Instead of taking on one full year of intentions (I do like that word better than resolutions, thank you, daughter o' mine), I'm honing in on three months at a time.

Using a quarterly planner for goals gives me the external permission I need to bite off major changes in small chunks, celebrate wins no matter how miniscule, and even-gasp-to change my One Little Word, if I want to.

So instead of a far-off, seemingly unattainable goal of losing forty pounds...I only need to lose seven.  All those piles that need to be decluttered?  Let's just focus on the bedroom and hallway this quarter.  Logically, I know that this is nothing new; I've developed action steps before to reach big goals.  But they never seemed to get done;  it was as if I was always standing in the shadow of the impossibly high mountain range of my lofty New Year's resolutions.  The action step lists were too daunting!

My One Little Word, at least for the next three months, is Conscious.  It encompasses my desires to act intentionally, be present, and do some research and find the reasons for my unhealthy patterns of behavior.

 

We'll see how this goes.  Will I have the willpower and stamina to sit through a digging-into-my-deepest-needs-and-desires session again in March, write new goals, come up with another OLW?  I'm not sure.  But knowing I'm good for the next three months feels just right, for now.