I know that it is not Friday. It is in fact Tuesday -- several days past Friday. That should tell you something. It has been a week and then some. So how is it going?
I spent last week actually getting my house organised. Furniture was moved and clothing was passed to charity and detritus was given to the tip. It was full on and actually very good. I was shocked on how much plain crap we keep...but why?
We now live in a very small house. We lived in a very big house (4000 sq ft). When I say small, I mean small. We have 600 square feet into which we have designed 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, kitchen, dining and living room. The rooms aren't big but that is both the challenge and the reward. We also have a 12 x 12 stable that we have modified into a formal dining room, so all in you could say we have 744 sq ft. Still that isn't much! So the reward for living so small is that it takes 30 minutes to clean the whole place, but the down side is that you can only have so much.
Now coming from the large to small means that there was a lot of stuff that we originally had to get rid of. These were hard choices but they were made. But as we moved in, we were still overflowing with stuff. I instituted the 6 month rule with the only exception being the holiday decorations. This was going fine until I had a serious riding accident which put me out of action for a year (yes a full year in plaster. A story for another day). As I am now more and more healthy, the clutter of life began to utterly bug me. So it was time to start the cleaning out again.
The Wonderful Husband (and he is) took a business trip to Portugal and that was my opportunity. My son cleaned out his room (No.2 Son boarders on being a hoarder -- it was an epic task!) and we moved furniture. I was able to clean and fix . Suddenly we had more space and it was tidy. I was able to set up a cleaning rota which would see my whole house be clean yet it would not be a huge chore as it was broken down into tiny 10 minute tasks each day. Does it work? You bet!
So how does this need to organise fit into my journey to me. Quite frankly, it is about finding out what I really deem as necessary and important. As I originally said, we keep a lot of crap. Do I really need all jars that I swear I'll fill with homemade jam? Exactly when am I making that jam? It's JANUARY! Do I need to keep 10 year old clothes which are both out of fashion and too small? Do I need to keep (and dust) perfume bottles filled with scents I will not wear? Do I need to keep old, unused kitchen crockery which is chipped and stained for a "just in case"? But more importantly, why do I keep them?
Yes, they are memories of my past life and experiences. They are who I was. But who am I NOW? What advantage do I have by keeping them? I don't. I just have more to do by having to keep them clean. What I need is the things I use regularly and suit the type of life I now have. My life is not one of tailored silk suits and high heels any more. My life now is about mud management, warm boots and hopefully a clean pair of jodhpurs.
In being a able on honestly recognise who I am now by the choices I make, I am discovering who I am. I am finding out that all the mud and muck mean an awful lot to me. Yes, I still wear my fancy makeup, but I do a lot more like Green Acres than Dynasty. And I am okay with that.
Okay, we will really get to exercising soon....
Tuesday, 16 January 2018
Friday, 5 January 2018
On A Journey To Me
I decided to take a trip this year. It's going to take all year. I am hoping that this trip will prove to be interesting. I am going to meet someone. This someone is a person I lost track of. This person is me.
It was hard to get back into this blog because I haven't written or posted anything since 2010. Seven years has gone past since I last wrote here and so much has changed. My family is massively different. I now have a grown son and my baby is a proper teenager. The fish died. We now have 4 cats and 20 horses. The husband is getting rather grey. I had a serious accident which has left me with a slightly crippled left leg. We no longer live in a big house, but a tiny caravan at our equestrian centre. Lots of changes. So many changes that I've lost exactly who I am.
I know that as you age and go through the cycle of life that you physically and your perspectives change. What can also happen is that one can become lost in the stresses of living everyday and forget to live every day. That is what has happened to me. I work. I work constantly. I work on the yard. I work as a teacher. I work as a mother. I work as housewife. I work (almost) as a wife. Unfortunately, I haven't worked at being me.
So I have a plan. I've got a written, notebook journal with ideas of how I am going to find Kay. It contains ideas about cleaning and exercise, but it also has ideas on self development and personal growth. I'm going to use this space as a place to reflect where I have been over the last week. This way I will be honest to myself and have a place to look back on what I have accomplished -- something we all fail to look at reasonably.
So what has happened this week?
New Year's Day was on Monday and it was okay. I had spent the previous 2 weeks working flat out on new policies so that the yard was legal. I was washed out. We had a nice albeit lazy day. Tuesday was work as was Wednesday. However, Wednesday was The Eldest's birthday. He's now 19. So we invited friends over and I made a proper, semi-formal dinner. It was a blast and I had a lot of fun (until the foot & ankle decided to show up with their gift of pain). Thursday was a recovery day. Today, Friday, I took down Christmas and cleaned the office. It felt good. I like everything to be tidy and put in the right place. I think that is important.
So what did I find out this week?
I found out I still like cooking. I had such fun making that dinner and it was a real treat to see how much everyone enjoyed it. Birthday Boy was thrilled and said it felt like it was supposed to feel on his birthday. That meant so much to me.
I also found out that I really do need a clean environment to thrive in. I, again, was so happy to have a tidy (in spite of the never ending mud that is my life) office. I need a clean desk where I can set my work out and know what needs done. When it is done, then I can celebrate that I did accomplish what I needed to.
What do I hope for next week?
I am hoping that my leg, ankle and foot will be okay enough for me start to do some simple exercises. I think stretching exercises will a good way to start.
Well....that's the plan anyway. See you next week and I'll let you know how I got on.
It was hard to get back into this blog because I haven't written or posted anything since 2010. Seven years has gone past since I last wrote here and so much has changed. My family is massively different. I now have a grown son and my baby is a proper teenager. The fish died. We now have 4 cats and 20 horses. The husband is getting rather grey. I had a serious accident which has left me with a slightly crippled left leg. We no longer live in a big house, but a tiny caravan at our equestrian centre. Lots of changes. So many changes that I've lost exactly who I am.
I know that as you age and go through the cycle of life that you physically and your perspectives change. What can also happen is that one can become lost in the stresses of living everyday and forget to live every day. That is what has happened to me. I work. I work constantly. I work on the yard. I work as a teacher. I work as a mother. I work as housewife. I work (almost) as a wife. Unfortunately, I haven't worked at being me.
So I have a plan. I've got a written, notebook journal with ideas of how I am going to find Kay. It contains ideas about cleaning and exercise, but it also has ideas on self development and personal growth. I'm going to use this space as a place to reflect where I have been over the last week. This way I will be honest to myself and have a place to look back on what I have accomplished -- something we all fail to look at reasonably.
So what has happened this week?
New Year's Day was on Monday and it was okay. I had spent the previous 2 weeks working flat out on new policies so that the yard was legal. I was washed out. We had a nice albeit lazy day. Tuesday was work as was Wednesday. However, Wednesday was The Eldest's birthday. He's now 19. So we invited friends over and I made a proper, semi-formal dinner. It was a blast and I had a lot of fun (until the foot & ankle decided to show up with their gift of pain). Thursday was a recovery day. Today, Friday, I took down Christmas and cleaned the office. It felt good. I like everything to be tidy and put in the right place. I think that is important.
So what did I find out this week?
I found out I still like cooking. I had such fun making that dinner and it was a real treat to see how much everyone enjoyed it. Birthday Boy was thrilled and said it felt like it was supposed to feel on his birthday. That meant so much to me.
I also found out that I really do need a clean environment to thrive in. I, again, was so happy to have a tidy (in spite of the never ending mud that is my life) office. I need a clean desk where I can set my work out and know what needs done. When it is done, then I can celebrate that I did accomplish what I needed to.
What do I hope for next week?
I am hoping that my leg, ankle and foot will be okay enough for me start to do some simple exercises. I think stretching exercises will a good way to start.
Well....that's the plan anyway. See you next week and I'll let you know how I got on.
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