It’s been a productively lazy week – or maybe lazily productive? Either way, this past week has been the perfect blend of getting stuff done and doing fun things. I have read entire books from cover to cover (most notably Anne Lamott’s Stitches and Lauren Graham’s Someday, Someday, Maybe) and been to the movies twice (to see The Hobbit (part 2) and Saving Mr. Banks, both of which were excellently done. Tho I could perhaps have done with fewer spiders in The Hobbit. *shudder*). There are still several things left on my task list – mostly things I don’t want to do, like cleaning – but the one thing I really wanted to do over Christmas break was to get Simple Felicity off the ground. And here we are. (Welcome!)
There are still a lot of tweaks and additions I’m hoping to make over the next few weeks, so please stop back often – or to stay updated on all the news about changes to the site, including new posts and guest-blogging opportunities, please feel free to like my Facebook page. (It felt really…official…creating that, but it was fun…!)
Guest blogging opportunity #1 is already here: I will be writing a series in February on singleness and the Church. If you’re single and would be willing to answer a few questions as part of my research, please drop a note to happy (at) simplefelicity (dot) net. Anything I post from that research will be completely anonymous, unless you wish otherwise. Additionally, if you’d like to guest-post during that series, please send your no-more-than-1700-word article to the same address with “guest post” in the subject line. I can’t promise to run it, and I would respectfully ask permission to work with you on editing if necessary, but I’d love to help give you a voice if you want one. (Guest posts from married and single persons welcome, as long as the subject focus is on singleness and the Church.)
photo courtesy of ©Depositphotos.com / nupix
So about New Year’s Resolutions… this is the time of year we’re “supposed” to make a bunch, and while I definitely have a list of intentions, the truth is, I already know I’m probably not going to succeed at keeping a lot of them. For example – it’s my intention (and always has been) to wash all the dishes sitting in my kitchen sink every day – but since I’m the dishwasher – this just doesn’t happen. It will happen today, because I need the sink. But making it a resolution? Not worth it. Resolutions carry the necessity of resolve behind them – a sense of “I am going to make this happen.” I just can’t bring myself to care that much about clean dishes, unless someone is coming over, or I’m out of them… I’m a lot happier with my simple list: write more, hold back less, and take (smart) relational risks. What are your intentions/resolutions for this year? Leave a comment below and let me know; I’d love to hear them.
On a similar note – I’m debating whether to hop on board the One Word 365 train again this year. Last year I chose the word “Compassion” – and while looking back, I can definitely see how I grew in my understanding of how to be a more compassionate person towards others, and surprisingly, towards myself, I think I completely wimped out on making it a focus for the year. The heart of the vision behind choosing one word for the year is to live with more directed intentionality. If you’re looking for a way to do that, One Word 365 is something I’d highly recommend. I think I’m going to opt out this year and maybe reconsider it for next year. I love the idea – I think it just took a little more time and effort than I expected it to. Kind of like washing dishes…
I was catching up on old episodes of the Catalyst podcast this fall and caught one where they interviewed Jeff Shinabarger – author of More or Less (which I have not yet read, but plan to!) and if I’m remembering it correctly, he talked about the experience his family had of actually trying to eat all the food they had before going to the grocery store for more, in an effort to help themselves understand just how much excess they really had. I looked in my cupboard the other day and realized that I probably have more food than I think I do, tho the combinations will probably make some pretty odd meals over the next week or so. One of my intentions that I hope to actually succeed in this year is to be better at planning my shopping trips. I don’t know if I will go so far as to actually meal-plan – that’s tricky, given my schedule. But I definitely want to be a better steward of my resources – and maybe not end up with random bags of things like quinoa and nothing to go with them. 🙂
There’s a thing going around on Facebook where you’re supposed to list ten of the most influential books you’ve read as part of your status, and then tag ten friends. I didn’t have time the day I was tagged, but I do now. That post is buried somewhere on my page, tho, so Shara, this 7th take is for you:
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
