HeartWriting

We just returned from Florida. We had planned this trip way back last winter when we thought we’d never see spring. Let’s go some place warm and get away from the cold next January, hubby suggested. We made our reservations and eagerly awaited our warm getaway. 

You know what they say about best-laid plans – they don’t always work out! As you all know, the weather in Florida and in so many other areas has been unseasonably cold. While we were there, the local meteorologists kept reminding us that this was the coldest spell they’ve recorded in 25 years! 

We didn’t swim with dolphins or walk on the beach, but we did brave the cold to take in some of the sights we planned. I was disappointed at first. All I asked for was warm weather. But as the vacation days flipped by, I accepted it for what it was – a time to get away from our routine, to get some rest, and to brave the elements and enjoy what we could. I even read two books in that short time!

I came back from vacation relaxed and ready to take on the New Year. But in these few days home, I’ve become overwhelmed again. The calmness I felt on our trip has vanished as I rush to keep up with all of the plates I left spinning when I left.  What has happened since I returned? 

I love the Internet. It’s a great way to connect, to learn, to teach, but it also can eat up a lot of time. On our last leg of our vacation we visited hubby’s 80-year-old aunt. We asked her why she didn’t have Internet anymore. “I was spending too much time on it,” she replied. I thought about her answer. Do I spend that much time here? After reading and responding to my 400-plus emails, checking Facebook and other groups I left for nine days, I realized that I spend way too much time at this desk. And all of the time I spend here, takes me away from starting those projects, finishing cleaning out my closets, connecting with friends locally, or reading a book.

What this cold vacation did was give me a new perspective on my life. What’s causing me to be overwhelmed is what I think I need to do, which mainly involves the Internet.  So, on my list of intentions I failed to write last time, is to limit my time on the web. 

Do you spend too much time on the Internet? Or is there something else you do that eats up a lot of your time? Can you focus this year on cutting back on those distractions that take you away from your life and what you really want to do?

Just a final reminder, if writing more is something you want to do this year, there is still time for you to sign up for the Writing Your Story class that starts next Monday, January 18. I’d love to have you join us. Information here.

Enjoy this beautiful day!

Last Saturday I took a class at Zeidler’s, our local florist. They hold these classes a couple times a year, and at the end of the hour or so, you take home your very own a flower arrangement. 

Last year I blogged that I was so stressed about this class and was behind the whole time, comparing my “masterpiece” to the other students. I was feeling completely out of my comfort zone. However, by the end of the class I was happy I had taken the risk and stretched.

This year, as we were driving to the class, I asked Barbara if she had ever made a flower arrangement. To my delight, she hadn’t. We would be in the same boat until I remembered what a talented gardener she is. No, I really couldn’t bank on her being slower than me or her arrangement inferior to mine. I had to decide, in that moment as we were nearing the florist, that I had to be ok with however my masterpiece ended up. Would it be perfect? Probably not. But then again, what is perfect?

As we chose our workspace, I overheard comments indicating that most of the attendees were veterans of flower arranging. I again reminded myself that it would turn out. So instead of walking around and looking at everyone’s project as I did last year, I continued to focus just on mine, enjoying being in the moment. I only looked up to watch the instructors as they talked us through each step. When it was time to pick out some cedar or pine, I walked right past the tables, got my greens, and went back to work. 

I left with a beautiful centerpiece. I realized Saturday that when I’m doing something that is out of my comfort zone, if I just release my judgment, focus on the project at hand, lighten up, and enjoy the present moment, everything turns out fine. 

Life is about living. It’s about taking risks and stretching ourselves. Whether that is starting a journal, contacting that long lost friend, forgiving that sibling, or taking a class, it’s about getting out of that comfort zone. 

Have you done anything lately outside of your comfort zone? How did you handle it? Focusing on pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones, might be a great idea for new year's resolutions!

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The Sunday before last, hubby and I went on a road trip to Ferdinand, Indiana to shop at their annual Christkindlemartkt. We enjoy taking these short trips, but our main reason to travel up the road was to buy some of the Monastery Sisters’ springerles. My grandma, Mayo, always made springerles at Christmas. Just the thought of those cookies takes me back to her kitchen and that metal table that she worked on in that large country kitchen. I inherited that table and used it in the kitchen of my very first apartment. It now serves as a worktable in my basement craft area.

After purchasing those gems, we were off to eat lunch at the Overlook Restaurant, which is located 30 minutes further in Leavenworth. We settled into a table near one of the windows overlooking the bend of the Ohio River and ordered one of my favorite foods, fried chicken. Even though I love this dish, I rarely eat it because we just don’t eat fried foods anymore. However, every once in awhile, we splurge. Served with this lightly breaded and fried chicken were creamy mashed potatoes and firm and fresh-tasting green beans. As we sat there enjoying our feast, our conversation turned to our family memories involving this meal. In my childhood, Mom fried chicken once a week, usually on Sunday. I have lots of stories surrounding that meal. I also remember asking her if I’d ever get tired of eating fried chicken. She told me no, and she was so right. 

While I’m talking about bringing back memories, my Writing Your Story class will start again January 18 and run through February 12. For more information and to enroll, click HERE. It’s amazing the stories we remember with just a few nudges, or what I call springboards. If you are stumped for ideas for Christmas presents, give them a class as a gift or treat yourself! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

It is funny how food can bring back a memory. What’s your favorite food and what memories does it bring back?

One of the benefits of keeping a journal is that once the entry is written, we can look back and see what has happened six months ago, a year ago, 5 to 10 years ago, or even longer. Time colors our memories and it’s often hard to even remember what was happening last week, much less a year ago!

The idea of rereading our journals is not to read over events that might have been painful and wallow in that agony. In fact, I don’t recommend rereading the real painful times unless there is a specific reason. One of those reasons might be because a decision you made at that time, you are questioning now. Reentering that time without the emotion, will show you the grounds for that conclusion. You might also want to skim that time to reaffirm that you are in a much better place and that you have grown. But revisiting other times can be fun, and also provide us with fuel for more to write or blog about!

So many of us are blogging now and what better way to review the year but to look back on our blogs and see what was going on last year at this time.

Looking back on my blog, on my first November entry I  wrote about a De-Stress List, a list of things to do to help me to get through the holiday season. One action listed was to complete the “Today I am” springboard. I have continued this one all year long. I have a file on my computer desktop where in the morning, not every day, but several times a week, I check in by writing how I’m feeling that day. This is really a computer journal in just a simple Word file.  Because I start with Today I am, I know exactly what to write about. When I put my fingers to the keys I ask myself, how am I really feeling today and what is really going on with me?  

Now if I read back in this mini journal, I see that last year at this time I was feeling really overwhelmed by everything I wanted to do and how much needed to be done around the house. This helped me today as I’m getting again overwhelmed by the approaching holidays, or as my mom would say "all worked up.”  I see that, although last year I was feeling this very same way, by focusing on accomplishing my De-Stress List, I made it through last year and will again in the next couple of months. 

How was your last November? Did you learn anything? Are you, like me, feeling the way you did last year? If so, what can you put on your De-Stress List?

By the way, in my effort to become more balanced and less stressed, I’ve opened another website, Bloombakecreate, which focuses on my other passions besides heartwriting and teaching those classes. More on balance later. I'm off to write my 2009 De-Stress List. How about you?

This is National Life Writing Month.  Both my online and live Writing Your Story classes ended last month. It’s been so much fun. I enjoy both types of classes, although it’s nice to have the up close and personal feel in the live classes. I’ll be offering that class again next year, but right now I’d like to focus on a topic we didn’t write about in that class. This exercise can be done as a journaling exercise, or a scrapbook page as I’ve done.

As the holidays approach and we think of family and celebrations, where do you consider home? What does home mean to you? Surely for me, it’s not that credit union I just drove by advertising, “We’re just like home.” Nor is home for those of us Cheers junkies, a bar where everyone knows your name. 

No, home to me is where I am rooted, where I feel safe and loved. Now can that be a city or a house or a bar? Sure. But it can be so much more. 

Thinking over my life, I’ve changed in what roots me. I remember when it was walking in one of the local parks, sitting on a bench in those woods, and writing. Friday nights out with the girls and talking with my Dad across the kitchen table in the home where I grew up helped to ground me. 

Now my husband, my cats, and my friends all help me to be “rooted.” My faith and my hobbies, including gardening, photography, baking, scrapbooking, and writing, all help to tie me to the ground.  The land we live on gives me peace knowing that it provides a place for us to grow most of our food.  

Even though my New Webster’s Dictionary defines “home” as the place and city a person lives in or where one was born or reared, to me it is so much more.

So what is home to you? Is that the home you grew up in or the home you live in now? Is it the friends or family you feel you can be yourself with, or your hobbies, or work that grounds you? What makes you feel rooted?