it's been a while, y'all. things have changed here. the using of lists have not. the making of goals: more fluid. in an attempt to perhaps follow through with them, I am back briefly to present them to you more concrete and visible so that they might actually become concrete and visible.
here are some goals for the year ahead:
1. cultivate a drawing discipline. draw one item per day. perhaps write a thing.
2. read one book per month. list:
the living // annie dillard
power evangelism // john wimber
the souls of black folk // w.e.b. du bois
a heartbreaking work of staggering genius // dave eggers
the divine conspiracy // dallas willard
bonhoeffer: pastor, martyr, prophet, spy // eric metaxas
man's search for meaning // viktor frankl
in defense of food // michael pollan
warriors don't cry // melba patillo beals
+ three freebies
3. decorate the space (read: hang art, print photos, string garlands). spend one part of one day per month doing something related to this.
4. spend less time on social medias (it can be good, but it can be bad). this goal is hard to figure realistically. perhaps spend one day a week on social media? experiment with this for one month.
xbyefornow
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Saturday, January 18, 2014
my aspirations are much smaller these days than in days past. maybe that's an incorrect statement--they are just more day-to-day aspirations than history-spanning ones (i.e. save world, make thunderous difference in lives of many, be internet famous, etc).
part of this has to do with realizing that I can't really see what's ahead, that my future is beholden by Another's hand, and this is better for me. it's still a hard lesson to learn--to be obedient day-to-day when those days often feel so mundane, but when they are often more challenging than I have previously thought. just the act of giving oneself away to other human beings in friendship, for example, with the potential of being hurt or rejected, is especially challenging to me, but I've found that it is sometimes a mundane (as in, not out of the ordinary, often monotonous) action that I must learn to practice. it seems contradictory that love would be mundane, and I think it is (contradictory, I mean). I should use the word ordinary. love should be ordinary, right? it should be, but it is not, and I am learning how to love (and how not to love--something that comes much more naturally to me) each day. at least, I hope to be learning to love. to be changed into loving others.
anyway, I digressed, because what I really wanted to note was that I still do have some concrete aspirations that include a task and/or objective.
these currently include:
bake loaves of bread -- sourdough + rye, to start
start a garden, whether small or large, whether in pots or in the ground, or just herbs on my windowsill
that is all, actually.
the smallest tasks tend to be the most intimidating to me.
I'm trying to learn to start with real intention.
part of this has to do with realizing that I can't really see what's ahead, that my future is beholden by Another's hand, and this is better for me. it's still a hard lesson to learn--to be obedient day-to-day when those days often feel so mundane, but when they are often more challenging than I have previously thought. just the act of giving oneself away to other human beings in friendship, for example, with the potential of being hurt or rejected, is especially challenging to me, but I've found that it is sometimes a mundane (as in, not out of the ordinary, often monotonous) action that I must learn to practice. it seems contradictory that love would be mundane, and I think it is (contradictory, I mean). I should use the word ordinary. love should be ordinary, right? it should be, but it is not, and I am learning how to love (and how not to love--something that comes much more naturally to me) each day. at least, I hope to be learning to love. to be changed into loving others.
anyway, I digressed, because what I really wanted to note was that I still do have some concrete aspirations that include a task and/or objective.
these currently include:
bake loaves of bread -- sourdough + rye, to start
start a garden, whether small or large, whether in pots or in the ground, or just herbs on my windowsill
that is all, actually.
the smallest tasks tend to be the most intimidating to me.
I'm trying to learn to start with real intention.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
today I am thankful for
-this town called athens and its overcast spring weather
-encouragement to go to catalyst cafe, and the sweet peace that often finds me here
-thoughtful friends who share half their mocha brownie
-appalachia and its bluegrass melodies
-thick socks and clog bircks
-encouragement to go to catalyst cafe, and the sweet peace that often finds me here
-thoughtful friends who share half their mocha brownie
-appalachia and its bluegrass melodies
-thick socks and clog bircks
common blessings today.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
things that would be nice to own
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
lately
I'm thinking of making bread with my hands (bread as in sandwich bread, or toast bread, or french toast bread). I'm thinking of REAL food (food as in one ingredient food, or pet with my own hands food, or more vegetables less sugar food). I'm thinking of this fast transition from protected adult life to mega-responsibility adult life, but I feel abundant peace in where I am and where I am headed.
what joy, to bind myself to this guy for the rest of my days!
I think that sounds just great to me.
what joy, to bind myself to this guy for the rest of my days!
I think that sounds just great to me.
Monday, December 24, 2012
christmas eve eve thankfuls
-gregory talking thai to the owner of noodle swing (restaurant we went to today). she was utterly delighted and entirely surprised that he knew her native language. made us both miss fon (thai language instructor at OU) so much, and just upped my excitement for our coming honeymoon... plus the food was aroi maak (very delicious).
-visiting our family friend and her husband who just had a new baby. although the baby was very cute (as babies are), we discovered that her husband mike orders green coffee beans and roasts them BY HIMSELF IN A STOVETOP POPCORN MAKER. I don't know if I've ever seen g's eyes light up that much (besides when he looks my way, of course). wedding registry: done.
-having one of those family gathering moments where, after dinner, there is a spontaneous combustion of story-telling the likes of which my generation of grandkids had never experienced before. I won't get too juicy (at least not yet) but let's just say that eating ice cream with mafia kids, riding bikes through manhattan, nine-month-olds that have a dirty vocabulary, growing up around pig farms, and having to leave town after messing with some native americans were all discussed. stay tuned for further family history.
-visiting our family friend and her husband who just had a new baby. although the baby was very cute (as babies are), we discovered that her husband mike orders green coffee beans and roasts them BY HIMSELF IN A STOVETOP POPCORN MAKER. I don't know if I've ever seen g's eyes light up that much (besides when he looks my way, of course). wedding registry: done.
-having one of those family gathering moments where, after dinner, there is a spontaneous combustion of story-telling the likes of which my generation of grandkids had never experienced before. I won't get too juicy (at least not yet) but let's just say that eating ice cream with mafia kids, riding bikes through manhattan, nine-month-olds that have a dirty vocabulary, growing up around pig farms, and having to leave town after messing with some native americans were all discussed. stay tuned for further family history.
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