As I am sure everyone is aware there is a very famous process from Marie Kondo to help
declutter your life: hold your belongings and ask yourself if it sparks joy or not.
Pete is terrified of me being home for long periods of time. This means one of two things will happen: I clean, or I start projects....or worse - I do both. The last 7 years I have worked for places that let me off for two weeks for Christmas break - so my poor darling has learned to dread this time of year.
He has attempted - futilely, I might add - to give me projects of his own to do. Nope, I will find my own projects to do. Or I will reorganize or start my own project.
One year I decided to learn to cross-stitch again. This meant there were four different half-finished cross-stitch projects before my ADHD kicked in and I jumped to something else. Then another year my darling boy decided he would offset my tendencies by taking us to California, this worked briefly, except I decided to take up a hobby on the way there and was fixated on it the entire time.
The only constant my entire life has always been writing. In other words it is probably the only hobby or thing in my life I can consistently hold in my hands and say "Yes, this sparks joy. True, joy." I like to hike, but I eventually get bored or wander off from everyone else. I like to play video games but eventually shut them off or find a new one, or go to an old one again until I bore of it again. But do they spark true joy? No, unless I am making up stories in my head with them while playing. I liked to cross-stitch, because then my brain was free to roam across the wilds of my imagination. I liked to crochet for the same reason. But eventually I tired of those past times too. Now that I am writing more consistently (thank you for that keyword, Sarah Noffke) I am finding my brain more actively taken up by the writing.
But? - you ask - Didn't you try writing before and quit?
Yes - but it wasn't because it didn't spark joy. It wasn't because I became bored of it or my ADHD kicked in. It was because I convinced myself that I sucked. I convinced myself that I was no good and no one would ever want to read anything I wanted to write. I listened to that damned Imposter and let him beat me.
That is now behind me and if nothing else comes from this damnable writing, I hope that others take heart and learn to not give up on their dreams. Find what sparks joy in your life and keep it close to you. Whether it is a person, a hobby, a job, whatever it is. Find that spark.
Now for the humor of the day - do you remember the nursery rhyme, Old Mother Hubbard?
Old Mother Hubbard
went to the cupboard
To fetch her poor dog a bone
but when she got there
The cupboard was bare
And so the poor dog had none
That is how my husband felt when he got home this afternoon. I decided to spring clean (winter clean?) the kitchen cupboards. I threw away all of our plates and bowls if they did not match. I ordered new ones on Amazon but decided - they did not spark joy.
My decision to throw away the plates did not spark joy, apparently. Hahaha!
He was very confused. I reminded him that I had called him and asked if he was ok with me discarding unused and unmatched items in the kitchen. He agreed reluctantly that he remembered this conversation.
He does like what I did to the rest of the cupboards and drawers, however. I think it was just a shock at how thorough I was. I am also wondering if he expected me to get distracted halfway through like I usually do. Uh-oh, poor hubby, this writing habit is sparking joy in more than just the writing parts of my life.
Just wait until he sees what I do to the bathroom cabinets tomorrow. *winky face*
As always if you have not signed up for my newsletter - make sure you do! I will let you know how our Sing 2 antics go tomorrow. I am taking out all 3 kids and the husband to the movies tomorrow after going to see my mom. You will also get to see a progress report on the book and my favorite line from this week!