A few additions to previous posts. I kept thinking of things to add, so decided to do it all in one go!
My 2018 Word - Contemplate
Well, that was a joke. A big fat God-laughs-at-our-plans joke. The first half of 2018 was the busiest I have ever been, as we continued to grow the business along two different avenues. I did not take a break, I did not slow down, I did not stop the hubbub. I got busier. And I'm really proud of how hard I worked and the products/services we developed. I found my hard work limit - and it was much further than I ever thought I could possibly go. I've always wanted to know where my limit was. It's unsustainable, but I'm happy I know where it is.
But looking back I realize that while I have been busier than I planned in the first half of the year, I have actually been contemplating my life pretty successfully. It just doesn't look anything like I thought! Instead of hours of quiet and thoughtful solitude, I have been aggressively analyzing every activity while I'm doing it in order to determine whether that activity (and/or the objects associated with it) should stay in my life. I've been de-cluttering and re-organizing our business and home and plan to do more. Alex and I have been contemplating next steps in business and life with an eye toward slowness (all while trying valiantly to stay on top of current tasks/activities). I'm excited for our slower future, but contemplation sure does not look like what I expected!!
A Tale of Tiny Homes
One problem I always had with tiny home dwellers is that they never looked like me - they were always more trendy, more single, more environmentally conscious, more minimalist. And no one ever seemed to have any hobbies that took up space (at least more than a guitar or laptop). But then I found Tiny House Giant Journey on Youtube and met so many awesome people who offer a MUCH different perspective on living tiny, including:
- A woman who lives in her (historically accurate) tiny home full-time while traveling to Civil War reenactments and sleeps in a piano
- A woman who runs a business out of her tiny home and is obsessed with her cats
- And a family of five that are super nerds and made room for their video games
I just loved getting to see some really unique and interesting new ways of living!
The Power of One
In addition to enjoying my writing more, keeping track of my pen better, and giving up thinking about pens, it turns out that using one pen means that when it stops working I actually try to figure out how to fix it. Yes, I watched a Youtube video about how to fix a pen. I've never tried to fix a pen before. I considered ink-less pens to be an indecipherable mystery of the universe, and as such completely unknowable to a mere mortal like myself. But now - I'm a person who watches online tutorials on how to fix a pen. I didn't expect that!
Also, no luck on fixing the pen yet, but at least I have a back-up!
The power of the small amount.