I woke up this morning full of excitement for my upcoming nine days of freedom (aka spring break!). And for some reason, even though it’s only just turned to spring, I couldn’t get summer plans out of my head. There’s so much I could possibly do this summer. There’s a master naturalist course I want to take, plus a yoga teacher training I got accepted to (!), as well as my summer grad school classes, some science-related professional development stuff through my school, and my summer job at the nature center. Plus J and I are hoping to take a trip to California to see the redwoods and Big Sur (!!).
So much to choose from, which is an awesome problem to have. But it seems as always that I’m taking on too much and won’t be able to do it all without being a crazy busy crazy person. And summer is definitely NOT the time for being a crazy busy crazy person. It’s supposed to be my season of relaxation.
So I’ll have to do some thinking and schedule-balancing, and probably let a few of those things go for now. I need to get better at remembering my intention to simplify my life. To help me remember, I decided to put together a few links on intentional living for your viewing pleasure…
Why saying you want change is not enough. A conversation in this article, that his mentor has about truly wanting something, really rang true for me. I keep saying I want a simpler life, or enough money to travel, or more time to read, or to learn how to rock climb better. But I don’t realign my priorities to make sure I do it.
A mentor of mine was interacting with a gentleman older than me when the man made this statement, “I want to buy a Corvette.”
My mentor responded to his desire quite frankly, “No you don’t.”
“What do you mean? Of course I do. I’d like to own a Corvette.”
My mentor responded with words I have never forgotten, “No, you don’t really want to buy a Corvette. You see, if you really wanted to buy a Corvette, you could buy a Corvette. You could sell your home and maybe also your business. Then, you would have enough money to buy a Corvette. You say you want to own a Corvette… but if you really wanted to buy a Corvette, you’d be changing your life to do exactly that.”
Amazing new podcast discovery! It’s called Running on Om, and it’s all about the mind/body/soul connection between running, yoga, mindfulness, and intention. How did I function without this podcast until now?
I think making avocado toast every night could simplify my life.
The secret to having a simplified schedule. Something I need to work on.
A book I got and a book I would like to get.
I was trying to avoid the major fad that is the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, because I’m freakishly organized already and don’t need to be pushed any further in that direction. But then a good friend of mine convinced me to look at how the book recommends you get rid of possessions – by asking the question “Does this spark joy?” It seems silly, because items in your house don’t really spark joy. But I looked at my closet with the lens of “does this piece of clothing make me feel joyful?” If the answer was no, I got rid of it. If the answer was “well I might wear this someday” or “I really like this color” or “I paid a lot for this dress,” I still got rid of it. Lo and behold, I got rid of about one-fourth of my clothes in 15 minutes. It was awesome.