I've never experienced a love/hate relationship with anything like I do with lists. Having a list of "things to do" over the summer agitates me often; yet, I love making lists and getting to cross off an accomplished task. Do you write down easy and hard tasks on your list like I do? That way you can quickly do and check off a lot of the easy things and you feel like you've been more productive than you really have.
I have decided I like fun lists. And to make up for my entire two months of not celebrating anything on the Simple Side, I figured I could make a very condensed list of all the simply wonderful things I have seen and celebrated:
4. Lake encounters. On an all too boring day, I spontaneously decided to kayak across the lake, float down a river, and dive into the latest "must read" book. I floated peacefully and closed my eyes to embrace the beautiful stillness.... until I realized I had to go to the bathroom and really didn't want to embrace nature in that way. So I paddled back. On another not so exciting day, I found myself worn out after an unwilling visit to the workout center. I'm trying this new thing lately, where I try to do something spontaneous or new to make each day different from the last. I pulled up to the lake, threw off my socks and shoes, and ran with my limbs flailing clumsily in all directions and fell into the mirky water. It was beautiful. 5. Reading Children's Literature with my closest friends. Honestly, this one's going to get it's own blog post some day. But for now, I have to plug it. It's life-giving. And freeing. And laugh worthy. Go try it.
1. The other day I ate stringed cheese. The strung way though. You know, the way you used to eat it when you were a kid; peeling off each individual strand and dangling it into your mouth. That's before you became a busy adult and had to start swallowing the cheese stick whole.
2. It's June. I'm pretty sure I saw someone driving down the highway a few weeks ago with a giant Christmas Tree strapped to the top of their car. I had to admit to myself that I have felt the urge to celebrate Christmas in June before. I hope, if a Christmas urge was what that person was experiencing, that they acted on it.
3. Whilst dogsitting I walked by my neighbors house and found my neighbor with a hose in her hand, graciously spraying a gang of ducks that had decided to congregate in her front yard. Every time I walk by that house now, the sprinklers on and the ducks are playing in it. I hope they get the ducks a slip and slide soon- I'd love to see that.
4. Lake encounters. On an all too boring day, I spontaneously decided to kayak across the lake, float down a river, and dive into the latest "must read" book. I floated peacefully and closed my eyes to embrace the beautiful stillness.... until I realized I had to go to the bathroom and really didn't want to embrace nature in that way. So I paddled back. On another not so exciting day, I found myself worn out after an unwilling visit to the workout center. I'm trying this new thing lately, where I try to do something spontaneous or new to make each day different from the last. I pulled up to the lake, threw off my socks and shoes, and ran with my limbs flailing clumsily in all directions and fell into the mirky water. It was beautiful. 5. Reading Children's Literature with my closest friends. Honestly, this one's going to get it's own blog post some day. But for now, I have to plug it. It's life-giving. And freeing. And laugh worthy. Go try it.
And this is why we're friends. I love lists. I hate lists. But there's some rushing feeling to checking off another thing, another accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteI thought of you the other day when I saw a little kid playing with one of those cut-out signs at the County fair. You know the ones where there's a body and a hole to put your face in? Simple pleasures.
God has blessed you with an eye for the "simple" details, don't ever lose it :)