linked.

i read these 9 insights this weekend and it really struck me. some things i had already heard, one thing i didn't agree with at all (i don't know where i stand on the last point about suffering, i have to think about it more), and the rest are things that got me thinking.

i know the website the link is from might be a little odd to some, but i kind of liked reading some other things on it. i am a thinker. not compulsively like that 9 insights says. but truly, i am always aware of what i am doing, how i am acting and thinking about how this may be perceived, why i'm doing it, etc (this does not mean i always make the best choices). i am always thinking. it's a blessing and a curse. sometimes ben will exclaim "who thinks about that?!" me. i think about "that" ("that" referring to many different topics that at times i discuss).

i know it's only monday, but maybe it will kick the week off right!

that gene some people have.

you know how some people just don't want kids?

well, i just don't want a house. am i missing some important gene?

honestly, i dream of living in an old apartment forever. i don't even care if i own it. i think we'll only own a house because ben has this idea that it's important. and, well, a brownstone in boston is a little out of our price range right now. but maybe someday it won't be.

{isn't it just beautiful? who needs a house?}

{have you seen keri russell's brownstone? to die for}

not to mention, there is only one style of house i would settle for and that's a craftsman bungalow. but, i'm picky about how it would need to look and what it would need to be like. and well, we'd have to build because this is new england and everyone has a colonial. it all sounds exhausting. 

just give me my apartment in downtown boston. i'd be a happy girl. 

snow.

{here}

anyone who knows me knows that i do not like winter.

winter in new england is 6 months long, and it snows in april quite often. we don't really have a spring to look forward to because it usually rains.

but the first snow is something i like. the first real snow, that is.

it snowed in october here, but not around where i live.

today, it snowed. it was followed by rain and turned into a slush but i didn't mind.

the first snow is so peaceful. all gets quiet. the world sounds muffled and there is a silence unlike anytime of the year.

the first snow calms me and brings me peace. i breathe a sigh of relief along with the quiet world. i think about where i am and what i want. i think about how i feel and i'm aware of how i act.

peace.

the snow brings peace.

continuing with the theme.

{here}

“We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are.”

- Marjorie Pay Hinckley

inspiring.

{here}

"love of music, of sunsets and sea; a liking for the same kind of people; political opinions that are not radically divergent; a similar stance as we look at the stars and think of the marvelous strangeness of the universe - these are what build a marriage. and it is never to be taken for granted."

- madeleine l'engle

inspired week 1.

each monday i will be doing a simple post of a quote or lyric that inspires me. each wednesday i will also have an inspiration post, but will be more about pictures or other elements i see that inspire me. i need more inspiration to remain creative now that i'm spending most of my time working. 

{here}

love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you/it will set you free/be more like the man you were made to be/ there is a design/an alignment to cry/of my heart to see/the beauty of love as it was made to be

creating.

i have a need to create. do you?

when i think about my goals and dreams, what makes me happy, i have noticed they all have to do with creating something. whether it’s cooking, sewing, writing, painting, organizing (creating a clean space!) or even desiring to be a mom (creating life, how cool!), i am happiest when i am making something. i find great joy in starting from chaos, from a mess, or from nothing and using my inspiration to create something new and different.

as i’ve become more aware of this fact about myself i try to make sure that i am doing something each day that fills this hunger for creating so i am purposeful in my day. yesterday i sewed something and made dinner. today i am writing, will probably paint and will make dinner again.

i love being in the kitchen, throwing things together and having them work together in a way that creates a delicious meal. i did not make the foods, but i make a meal by allowing them to work together in harmony.  

i love taking my newly acquired sewing skill and putting myself to the test. i take fabric and turn it into something beautiful that i can feel proud of.

i always wanted to paint and with encouragement from my husband, i started. i take the visions in my mind and put them onto canvas. i will admit i’m not very good, but i am happy when i see my work, knowing i put forth the effort, and happy because i created. 

goal tending.

I think most people must have some sort of space that inspires them. For some it may be a boat on a lake, for others it may be a mountaintop. For me, my “space” has always been the beach. I love the smell of the salty air, the sounds of the foamy waves as they crash to the shore, and the pale color pallet of white sands and a gray blue ocean. This calm and peaceful place always centers me, reminds me who I am, where I am, and where I’m going. I love the beach so much we even got married there at sunset (I didn’t plan the sunset part). So, it should come as no surprise that going on vacation to the beach would center me and remind me of who I am.

Vacations usually inspire me, regardless of where they are. I think it’s the break from reality that it offers. I’m not thinking about a to-do list, vacuuming, doing laundry, or running errands. On vacation I simply exist. We don’t really plan out our days; we just go with whatever we feel like doing at that moment. I think this break from reality really charges me and helps me think about how I’m doing in this journey we call life. I feel more refreshed and ready to go, which is the whole point of vacation, isn’t it?

I always read when I’m on the beach to pass the time. I have an e-reader but I felt wary about bringing it to the ocean so I picked up a book at Barnes & Noble called The Happiness Project. I have an ever growing list of books I want to read and this was somewhere on it, so I purchased it and planned to read the whole thing that week. Well, I made it through about 200 of the 300 pages, which is honestly remarkably slow for me (one of the perks of vacation). This book is incredible so far, though I’m still reading the end of it.

In The Happiness Project, the author discusses how she thinks she could be happier. She knows she is already happy, and there is no great tragedy going on around her, but she knows she could be a better citizen, daughter, sister, friend, employee, wife and mother. I identified with this sentiment, because while I am generally happy I know that I could be a better citizen, sister, friend, and wife.  So, the author sets small goals on a weekly & monthly basis. I recommend you pick up the book to know more about it, because this isn’t intended to be a book review, just a basis for something I want to do.

The author uses her small goals to make up what she calls her “Happiness Project”. My vacation thoughts combined with this reading had me thinking about doing something similar on my own. I have small goals I’d like to set and keep setting in the future. I think that these smaller goals that go under some overarching themes would certainly make me happier (though, like the author in this case I am definitely happy). I guess you could call it my own Happiness Project, but I am averse to being labeled or labeling things I do, so let’s just say I’m setting goals.

I will be mentioning these goals as I go along, because somehow writing it out will keep me accountable and able to evaluate my progress somehow.  I want to do things like go to bed when I’m tired, do more yoga, stop swearing, go to the dentist more, give more compliments, make smarter purchases, and not mention the socks. I want to do these things to help me stay centered, especially as many big changes happen around me. 

First up: more yoga. I picked yoga first because I feel great when I do yoga and I want to regularly have that sense of feeling so centered, peaceful, and energetic. Those feelings will give me motivation to continue on with my other goals, and other goals will probably happen naturally as a result.