I’ve been re-reading the Lord of the Rings and it has got me to thinking about traveling and maps and my own life journey. I have taken all of the countries and states I’ve lived in for a significant amount of time and traced them. The nice thing about tracing paper is that you can overlay them on top of each other and see your visual history all together. Granted, it doesn’t make as much sense to most people as when seen individually, but somehow it helps me make sense of my past.
I recently stumbled across the article how to design your life. But the problem was it didn’t say much. I was hoping for some practical tips and hints, but instead it outlined some broader principles- still good, but vague. So I’ve decided to write the article I was hoping to read.
If this is not an option, at least take a long walk, drive or run. Try to do something that you don’t normally do to get away from your house-away from your everyday life. This will give you perspective and a clear head. It’s easier to see the little things in life that annoy you when you’ve not had to deal with them for a day or two. Try to rid yourself of all distractions when you start- if you’re too hungry or tired or distracted you won’t get very far.
Write down anything that pops into your head that you’d like to change about your life and start writing it down in a list on a big piece of paper. (I suggest a notebook- not a loose sheet- but hey, it’s your life.) It might help to incorporate any running to-do lists you have- but don’t just think small stuff. Walk around your house- this will help jog your memory as to things you’ve been meaning to get to. For example when I walked into my bedroom I remembered that I wanted to buy framed mesh to hang my earrings on so they wouldn’t clutter up my dresser. Don’t just think of things you want to buy and projects you want to finish, but also more general goals such as spending more time with family. What would you like to make a priority in your life that up to this point you’ve just been to busy to make happen?
Now you’ve got your working draft- the guts of the beast. Go through your list and make notes of the practical ways you can implement these broader themes. Want to shop locally? Become a member of the local food Co-op, or a regular at a farmers market. Tired of your jewelry? Organize and host a jewelry swap (or for guys, a tool swap?) Want to have a more consistent bedtime? Set an alarm when it’s time to go to bed and wake up at the same time every morning too. It’s much easier to tackle these life principles if you have practical hooks with which to grab them.
Now comes the final and most important step: action. Now take all of the practical ideas you thought of and schedule it. Put it on the calendar, write it on a sticky note, or get a tattoo- whatever your preferred method is to remember things. I love the checklist and I haven’t found many people who don’t. Writing your list in such a way that you can come back to an item and check it off is extremely satisfying- and perhaps motive enough to get things done. To give yourself the final push off the dock, think through what has been holding you back from accomplishing these things before. Time, money, help, laziness? If money is an issue try to find ways to barter for services- ask friends. Sometimes even small businesses are willing to accomodate a trade if you can give them adequate goods in return. There won’t be a “yes” until you ask. If time is an issue, you’ll have to cut something else out of your life. It’s as simple as that. This list was created for a reason and if you’re serious about making it a priority, then that means something else has to go. A wonderful book recommended to me dealing with this is margin. Remember to come back to the list frequently for updates and revisions. Over time you’ll be able to not only mark your progress, but reap the rewards of a life well-designed.
I hope this article has motivated you to write your own list and begin the process of designing your life. If I’ve helped you at all I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
I like the old-fashioned method of bartering. There’s just something satisfying about a hand-made exchange of goods that each party has put real effort into that swiping a plastic card can never match. You tend to put more of your soul into something if you know the person who is going to receive it in the end. It keeps you more honest, it makes you more impassioned and desirous to do your work well. You get to witness the entire process- the expression on the other person’s face when they see your work and you receive theirs.
In an effort to be a part of this process I asked if anyone I knew could sew. I can’t even thread a needle, and a dress I have needed a bit of stitching. A friend offered her services and in return I created a card for her. It was wonderful to be able to personalize it to her needs and to see her gasp when I handed it to her. It was just wonderful. I hope to be able to barter again very soon.
Here’s the card I made.
So, I first started off this post as a comment on my friend Laura’s blog. But then it go too long. So I decided to make a post of my own. I took the music challenge where you search your name in music and see what comes up. There was quite a mix.
Let’s see, first there was a song in french by les cowboys fringants that seemed to be a bit romantic although you never know what those frenchies are saying underneath the pretty exterior of their accents.
Then there was “hannah” by Robin Trower. Don’t worry I’ve never heard of him either. Didn’t care so much for the style of music – kind of weird punk rock- like a song from across the universe soundtrack, but diggin’ the lyrics at first… hannah walks in beauty like the night, etc. But then it got kinda wierd. stangely similar to that laura song-
“Hannah, distance surrounds you everwhere
Hannah, living in memories I can’t share
Living a life, wide as the sky”
Then there’s the pretty famous song hannah by Ray LaMontagne. I’ve known this song for a while, but never really studied the lyrics. This particular verse kills me:
“Her Papa he was a preaching man
And the Lord is hard to please
So she comes down from the ozark hills to these very streets to roam
With a banjo and a bible and a fine tooth comb”
There are so many more I could mention. I’ll just pick a few of my fave’s.
Songs with hannah in the name:
“Lovin’ hannah” – although it’s sung in praise by a women, it IS sung by a woman in a very whispery breathy voice so it is a bit creepy. Maybe the singer should have watched she’s just not that into you.
“hannah’s conscious” the album is called the knife and again very upbeat and techno-ish.
“hannah t” by the Coma’s. Interesting name.
“Vegetarian restaurant” perfect. I”m not sure why this one came up. Perhaps it is because it’s also in The Knife album. just had to mention it. And of course it’s all instrumental.
Just in case one hannah isn’t enough, there’s always “hannah hannah” by I hate sally. My friend Laura would probably enjoy this song knowing her tastes in music. Very screamo. I don’t even pretend to know what they’re saying.
Ella Fitzgerald sings “hard hearted hannah”. Sad. But the lyrics are pretty funny. Here’s a sample:
“They got a gal there, a pretty gal there,
Who’s colder than an Arctic storm,
Got a heart just like a stone,
Even ice men leave her alone!
They call her Hard Hearted Hannah,
The vamp of Savannah,
The meanest gal in town;…
I saw her at the seashore with a great big pan,
There was Hannah pouring water on a drownding man! “
“dear hannah” by metro station intrigued me. Another tale of woe regarding my namesake. Dear hannah is not exactly the high brow of society here.
Artists with hannah in the name:
This artist is called Hannah Fury. The album I listened to was called through the gash. Hannah’s can be quite violent I suppose. Their song never look back is kind of a mix between a christmas jewelry box sound and the cranberries stripped of their rock-ness. It has the same strain of hormones.
Hannah & her sisters. Not to be confused with the movie hannah and her sisters. I listened to you keep me hanging on, again more techno club music.
Then there’s always the band kill hannah, can’t say I care much for their name.
I also found a band simply called hannah. They have a nice techno upbeat sound – great for clubbin or contra dancing. It’s all in swedish or something though so can’t comment on the content of the songs.
And I would be much amiss if I didn’t mention hannah montana. That’s pretty much how I introduce myself now, so people remember my name. It’s sad that the mnemonics I resort to reference such a sad part of modern culture, but hey, its good for a beat right?
So, in summary:
Don’t kill hannah or mess with hannah & her sisters or you will receive some hannah fury either from hannah or hannah montana.
I know, I know, I’ve been a bad blogger. First rules of blogging are: do it. And I’ve slacked off a bit. But I’m back! For now anyway. Here’s my latest tales. Sorry no artwork or pictures to go along with this one, but they’re coming. Believe me.
So, today was the second day of my not having a bicycle. So, I became the average commuter and walked the 20 min. walk to the metro (or train system for those unpolished highlanders who’ve never visited the great city of washington) ride the metro for 2 stops south and then walked the 10 min. walk to work. After work I walked the 10 min. walk (which is also freezing by the way, even below freezing) to the metro, rode the metro 2 stops north and then waited for the bus that would drop me off right by my house. I love that bus, it’s just very unreliable. The number 12, it goes right past my house, but the whole system is like … ok if you were walking in a field and you found a watch… oh never mind. anyway, you can always count on it to not be on time. So, I get the bus and get home 30 min. prior to having to arrive at my first community group meeting.
Backup- I go to a church now that is in the city, but has small groups in various locations. There is one that is 5 min. away from the metro. The opposite direction from me. So that makes it a 25-30 min. walk in my bicycle-less state. I decided to visit one. Tonight was my first time. So, after I arrive home and thaw my fingers out and generally go about doing nothing for 10 min. in the stupor that I always seem to have when my mind isn’t actively engaged in a focused activity I realize that i haven’t done much of anything productive and now I am going to be late for my first meeting. It starts at 7:30. It is now 7:15. So, I put my two coats back on, my gloves, my scarf and leave my house. The bus system doesn’t seem to be existent so I start the 25-30 min. walk. Just as I’m about 12 min. into it, the bus comes lumbering up behind me and alas I am in the middle of two bus stops. So what do I do? Start running. Thankfully, bus drivers have hearts too and he stops just right where he is, so I backtrack a little and glide onto the bus.
So, I finally arrive at the house where this groups supposedly meets. I thought it was the corner one, but that was completely boarded up, so I go over to the next house. It is completely dark inside with the curtains drawn. The tangerine arched doorway doesn’t help matters. I ring the bell. Nothing. There is a plastic stick of some sort taped to the frame that I can only conclude is for people to take off and hammer the front door with, so I take the hint that the bell doesn’t work and I knock. The door opens quickly inward and a man with a beard stands before me… There are candles lit in various places in the room and a very pathetic fire is trying to grow in the fireplace. There are others in the room but it’s hard to make out because it’s so dark. My first thought is seance? I’ve never attended an anglican church before so I don’t know their practices, and they do seem to lean heavily on the ritual, and in the email that I got from the leader before coming there was talk of some sort of silent meditation. I half wanted to bolt. But I braced myself and entered the darkened abode.
It was then that I learned that there seemed to be a strange sort of power outage only affecting that solitary home. ….strange. I met Ben and Laura inside. The man who opened the door turned out to be the leader, Bryon {pronounced brian}. Laura is his wife. We make small talk about the local robberies and crime chases with helicopters while Bryon made valiant attempts at lighting that unigniteable wood. Meanwhile there is thumping in the corner and I see a cage and so work up the courage to ask? Oh, yeah, it’s just the rabbits. Then Laura is trying to rally the group to give up and go to a restaurant with real working electricity I feel a bumping and nudging on my ankle. Oh, yeah, it’s just the rabbits.
So, we all board the white prius in the driveway (I think her name is Rosie?) and make the journey to… of course… the tastee diner. Although I don’t know where the the comes from since it wasn’t on the sign, but they were all very insistent about the the part of the name and kept saying it with that specific emphasis. I had never been to this one and they did in all fairness warn me that it was like the classic diners of however many decades ago that made our country great. Sure enough there were booths with jukeboxes in each one, tiled floors, gaudy decorations hanging from the ceiling, those silver napkin holders that hold napkins so thin that they practically fall apart in your hands and small enough that you can’t even fold them to make a decent layer. Oh, and not to mention the waitress. I have never seen a person smile less in so little time. She wasn’t openly hostile or angry, it was just the unenthusiam that was overwhelming. Of course, if I was named Martha and was probably over 60 years old and worked the night shift at a diner I would be unenthusiastic too.
After we are seated at a booth Bryon says to me, “oh I can finally see your face, nice to really meet you” and I look up and there’s this person that i’d seemingly never seen before. It must have been that dark in the house and then he was the one driving so I never really got a good look at his face. The whole group decided to get burgers. Except for me of course who doesn’t eat animals. Just their products as Ben pointed out. I opted for the hot cakes {which if you’ve never heard of, don’t be alarmed, I’d never heard of them myself until last year when my good farmer friend introduced me to them, they’re really just fancy name for pancakes} with chocolate chips of course. What good are hot cakes without a little bit of chocolate? And keeping up with that them, I ordered the hot chocolate which was promptly delivered…. as Martha was walking away from the table I had to lean over and whisper to laura, “is it for here or to go?” It was a styrofoam cup which was then placed in a china mug which was sitting on a matching china saucer. I suppose I should have been grateful that they gave me the amount of a to go cup with *almost* the class of a dine-in china cup. I was just very unsure… maybe Martha’s been working here a little too long. … So, we made it our goal to make her smile before the night was through.
We get underway with “business” as this is an intentional time of community and proceed to share…. (brian comes up with all the topics each week)…. our best high-school memories and our worst college memories. Interesting choice Bry. It was a pretty thorough icebreaker since I learned so much about the few people around me that I’d known just about as long as I’d known our waitress.
After, or rather in the midst of our sharing since we didn’t exactly follow a strict format, Laura asked about last sunday’s church service and what was talked about since they were helping with children’s church downstairs. I cringed since I had been asleep, not only for the entire sermon, but the entire service almost. Granted, it’s harder to fall asleep when standing and singing, but it is possible. I don’t know what came over me that afternoon- maybe just the fact that it was an afternoon on the weekend and my body demands naps not strict attention paying. Anyway, needless to say I did not get one single thing out of that sermon. In my defense I felt that it was very blandly delivered but who am I to judge such matters from my easy-pew? Ben however, seems to have a vivid auditory equivalent of a photographic memory and spits out basically a detailed outline of the entire sermon. Point, sub-point, sub-subpoint. you get the picture. I of course have to admit to falling asleep to it in the midst of his enthusiasm. There was some confusion in my mind as to who the actual head pastor was since I’d been twice and both times there were different pastors that didn’t really explain who they were. So, I open the floor and ask about that and then Ben excitedly tells me that this last sunday the head pastor spoke. The one I fell asleep to. As he so nicely put it, I have “lots to look forward to”. Just as I write this now, I am realizing that I wasn’t even there last sunday. I was in Pennsylvania. But that’s another story. Dont’ worry, that whole falling asleep thing did actually happen, but on a different sunday. So now I am hoping that it was with a visiting pastor I feel asleep to who will never visit again. One can only pray.
At the end of this discussion Martha comes around to give us our checks which must have took her some time to write up judging from her face when we explained in the beginning that we would like separate checks. Bryon supposes out loud that he might get a milkshake and Martha practically says no he can’t order that, it’s too cold outside. It is in the midst of this banter that we see the first hint of a smile of Martha’s lips. After she’s turned her back on the table we all do a round of congratulatory high-fives and Bryon mentions under her breath, “stuff white people like.” Perfect.
After paying our carefully divided checks at the register Laura announces that they are going to drop me off since “it’s too cold to walk”… because it’s not like I walked to their house or anything in it. I appreciate the gesture though and accept gratefully. On the drive back we take prayer requests and I ask Bryon if he would mind keeping his eyes open while he drives. I know it’s a prius, but still. They dropped me off and that was that. My first (own) community group experience.
Thinking back on the evening now, there are so many quirks and oddities about my whole experience with these people that it might just be crazy enough to be perfect. Time will tell.
Ok ok fine. After reading this entire post instead of a hollow word of congrats I’ll throw you a bone. Here’s a little baby giraffe that I did for my sister’s baby shower invite.
So, it’s been a while since I posted. I guess I’m at a loss for words. I don’t feel like my life is that interesting. Anyway, I thought I’d give you a little update on how my life has been recently. I’ve finally settled into a house here, and actually had my 3-month review today at work. It went pretty well. I’ve been biking to and from work now pretty regularly. I even have the legit biker pants with the padded seat that makes you feel like you’re wearing a diaper. After work today, I decided to go to my local grocery store and buy a gallon of milk, since I ran out last week. On my way home, on a whim, I stopped by the local pupuseria for some yummy dinner. This “restaurant” is really nothing more than a parked camper that can’t go into, but order through the window. Just as I received my order (complete with horchata in a disposable cup) the bus that runs by my house came. I wanted to catch it since it’s hard to carry a full gallon of milk, a hot to-go box and a flimsy full cup of liquid on a bicycle. Thankfully the to-go box was in a bag so it was a bit easier to carry. I started wheeling my bike across the parking lot toward the bus when a man who was still waiting for his order called me back and pointed to my backpack that I had left on the ground. I thanked him and started to back up my bike to retrieve it. (I wasn’t riding it, just holding the handlebars and steering it backwards) I hoped that I could still catch the bus (which was stopped at a red light). Just as I started to turn my bike around and walk with it forwards to get my backpack, I tripped over the bicycle and found myself sprawled flat on the concrete. My cup immediately broke in half, the contents spilling everywhere, and following its natural gravitational pull, ran down the incline of the parking lot right towards me. I couldn’t move for several seconds. I was just stunned. I was in pain (mainly my knees) and couldn’t believe I had just fallen down out of my own stupid hurry in front of a large audience of people waiting for their food and the intersection of two busy roads. I hurt my pride more than anything. After about 10 seconds of laying in my own mess, I decided to get up. Just as I was about it, two men ran over who had seen me fall and helped me up. They were very nice and inquired if I lived nearby and could I ride my bike? One man even offered to buy me another drink. I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible so without taking time to assess anything I gathered what was left of my pride and biked away up the hill. My knee didn’t feel so good doing that. Upon finally returning home and taking off my horchata-soaked pants I found that I had scraped up both knees pretty good and bruised my elbow, but otherwise was fine.
I am finished with my university education and come Saturday It’ll be official. It’ll be very weird to not be in school anymore. It’s all I’ve known for pretty much my whole life. I’ve had summers off, but even that was different with the knowledge that I would be returning to school in the fall. Now, I will be an Independent Adult making decisions about where to live, what jobs to take and what kind of insurance I want to get. The road is looming and a bit ominous. But for the summer I have plans and I know God always provides. In the meantime, I plan to enjoy the journey.
“I give you the light of Eärendil, our most beloved star. May it be a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out.” ~Lord of the Rings
I was thinking about this light in the Lord of the Rings tonight while I lay flat on the ground looking up at the sky. It was a cloudy night and I couldn’t seem to make out any stars. Then all of the sudden I saw a single pinpoint of light high up in the sky. It wasn’t extremely bright or twinkly, it was understated if anything. But I was able to gaze at it for a long time. And it struck me then, that somehow that light was like the light of Eärendil that Galadriel gives to Frodo. What a difference one light can make in the midst darkness and shadow. A single bit of light can give direction, comfort…hope.
I may be reading way too much symbolism into the story, but I saw how the light of Eärendil can even be a symbol for the Bible, the light of God’s word. Like in many great stories, Frodo, the weary traveler is tired and scared and somewhat lost. He holds onto this light however and at the time of his greatest need it gives him courage, helps him to find his way and even becomes a weapon of sorts against the things that lie in darkness.
So many times the Bible can be seen as boring or a book of rules or what have you, but it’s times like these that make me realize that it is a powerful and beautiful instrument that God gives us to help us in our times of need.
Some comforting thoughts to me as I often feel like Frodo, going out into the unknown, conquering my own monsters and trying to make my way on the path of life.