The Battle of the Birds (part 1)

Are you an early bird or a night owl?

At our house, I'm definitely on the early bird team.  I've been a morning person for as long as I can remember.  Having children has only intensified my love for quiet mornings  This topic is close to my heart, as I've written about it previously - four years ago, during a very different season of life.   There is nothing more valuable than quality personal time when you're at your best, while all little people are sleeping...

So this is why I wake up at 5 a.m. every day.  I once heard another writer say (and I can't remember who they were quoting) that we have to take the hours of the day that no one else wants.  And thankfully, for my family, the early morning hours are all mine. But, there is definitely a tradeoff - because at 9 p.m., I begin to fade.  And I have set my own rule that no serious, heavy, in-depth conversations are allowed after 9 p.m. because I lose my clarity, perspective and brain power, and I end up talking in circles.  (It's an entertaining show for night owls in our house!)

Because I'm a writer, I have to be at my best in order to think clearly, explain and elaborate on ideas.  The morning happens to be the best time for all of this.  And although I gave up coffee for a few years during pregnancy and breastfeeding, I'm happy to report that one cup of amazing, hot coffee is part of my morning routine.  It really jump-starts my morning, people!

(A total aside: last year, when my brother-in-law mentioned he was having a hard time getting ready in mornings and felt a little scatterbrained, my suggestion was he start drinking coffee.  Everyone at the table thought I was crazy.  But at least I was honest!  I'm a huge coffee advocate.  Huge!)

  

Print from Sevenly, a lovely free gift...

One thing today:  If you have been wanting to get up earlier and needed a push, get up just a few minutes early tomorrow and see if it doesn't improve your day.  Try to get to bed a little earlier tonight. And, if you need something to do while waking up early, download an audio version of Laura Vanderkam's book, What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast and go for a morning walk or run.
Good Stuff:
What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast by Laura Vanderkam
Sevenly

Who are you, anyway?

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.  - Aristotle

Do you ever wonder why you feel the way you do sometimes?  Do you feel energized after attending an event with a lot of people?  Or, do you want to head home and decompress?  It's pretty simple - we are all hard-wired with certain personalities.  We were delicately designed by our Creator - and we have each been given certain traits that help us navigate through this world - and through our lives.


Knowing our general personalities and our tendencies can help us feel a little more comfortable on our life journeys.  During our pre-marital counseling 14 years ago, my husband and I were asked to complete an extensive personality profile, the Meyers-Briggs profile.  And in the last six months, I've been craving to get back to some self-reflection and self awareness, so listening to Elisa Pulliam in an interview about overcoming comparison in motherhood - and knowing and embracing ourselves - was the nudge I needed to get to know myself again.

We need to be comfortable with who we are.  

After taking the DISC inventory multiple times this summer, I realized that I am consistent:  I am an INFJ.  And I'm much more "I" than I used to be...

This explains why being in large groups of people drains me.  Small talk is not something I'm good at, so I've been pulling back on that, which sometimes makes me feel like I'm being unfriendly or anti-social.  But, I know that I'm not - I'm just trying to save my energy and be more genuine.  Because I've been reacquainting myself with who I really am, I'm much more comfortable and nicer to myself.  And I know that restoring my energy through being in solitude is totally imperative to my well-being, as a woman, a friend, a wife and a mama.

On this journey to find your passion, do you know who you are?

One thing today:   Take an online personality inventory to see where you are.  Then, re-take it in a few days to see if you're consistent.  
Good stuff:
Elisa Pulliam, Life Coach - She is a lovely, graceful individual.  Visit her personality profile page to take some online inventories and learn more about her other assessments.
MBTI(R) Type Heads
Interview with Elisa Pulliam on overcoming comparison in Motherhood
Understanding your personality, a blog post by Mandi Ehman
Personality + profile pins by Megan Tietz
35 quotes for introverts

Quiet

 

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 

-Matthew 11:28

 

Weekends = good food + creativity.

Weekends are a time for rest.  And crazy, messy creativity.  And delicious, thick, rich, buttery, sugary home-baked goods.  And endless cups of coffee and tea.  And hot fudge sauce.

(And eating hot fudge sauce while you write, while your children are in the very next room cutting out magazine photos and making books.)

I love Saturday afternoons.


Weekends are also a time to read things you're in love with:  cooking magazines, novels, blogs that you just can't get to during the week.  And learning about ideas, projects and recipes that inspire you so much that they leave you silently wondering:  when I can I make that?

Enter my favorite cooking blog, Joy the Baker.

Joy is lovely, talented, has a sharp sense of humor, and the girl can BAKE.  She packages everything so well on her blog that each of her carefully crafted blog posts read like a cozy, colorful cookbook.  The photography that accompanies her recipes is artistic and inspiring. It has its own language.

Joy's Friday recipe for Weekend Casual Cinnamon Sugar Popovers posted yesterday made it to our breakfast bar this morning, I'm pleased to announce.  And they were worth every bit of work - but they were really quite simple to make. 
 

After lunch, when my chocolate cravings began to come a-knockin', I remembered Joy's Mocha Hot Fudge Sauce recipe I made a few weeks ago for a hot fudge sundae birthday celebration.  And it hit me that leftover Weekend Casual Cinnamon Sugar Popovers would go perfectly with her Mocha Hot Fudge Sauce.  So I took a few minutes to make some hot fudge sauce...and tt was the perfect weekend dessert.

 

 

You are welcome.

One thing today:  Please, please visit Joy's blog for all of her recipes and photos.  Then revisit her blog over and over.  Then, carve out some time on a weekend and create her creations!  You'll be in love.

Good stuff:

Joy the Baker (blog)
Joy the Baker (podcast)
Joy the Baker Happy Hour Hot Fudge Sundae Video
On Instagram = @joythebaker

Low and Slow

“Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.” ~Molière

Today is Friday.  And if you’re thinking you have to get everything from your list wrapped up today before the weekend, and you’re rushing:

Try to slow it down.  And if you can’t slow down this morning, try slowing down this afternoon or this evening with your family.

One of the best books I have discovered and read over and over is Slow Family Living:  75 Simple Ways to Slow Down, Connect and Create More Joy.  I came across this book one day at Blue Willow Bookshop, a lovely independent bookshop here in Houston.  Bernadette Noll was speaking at a book signing, which I couldn’t make – but I had to buy the book.  Then, I learned about their online community – which is so rich in helpful information and nudging thoughts to jar us out of the constant hurried pace in which our world operates.

I felt comforted knowing there were others who believe we can go slow.  This world moves way too quickly for me most days, and this book is an excellent toolbox of 75 ways to unplug and relax as a family.  (And, since we've been talking about writing, one of the 75 tools includes an excellent journaling prompt, which you’ll find when you buy the book.)

Slowing down as a mama and a family can really help us see our world, listen to our breathing, and think for ourselves.  We don’t need the world to do these things for us.  When we slow down, we can put ourselves back in touch with our priorities and emotions that fuel us to create better or worse.

And with slowing down comes writing. Since writing has been a focus over the last couple of days, take a few minutes today to be intentional with your family’s time and write about your plans this weekend:

-What events are on your calendar?

-What events/commitments are non-negotiable?

-What events can you say no to?

-When can you get outside and play?

-Or, when can you have creative time?

-Will you have screen time?  And if so, how much?

I wish you a slower weekend, even if it’s not super quiet!  It feels a bit more fall-like here in Houston.  Today we’ll only have highs in the 80’s instead of in the 90’s.  We’ll take it!

One thing today:  Journal a very loose plan for the weekend.  Be intentional.

Resources:

Slow Family Living (the book)

Slow Family Living (the online community)

Know Yourself: Daily Writing

“We do not write in order to be understood, we write in order to understand.” ~C. Day-Lewis

This quote is one of my favorite perspectives about writing:  it helps us understand.  Writing helps us better process ourselves, our worlds, our paths, our challenges, as well as our hopes and dreams.  Writing helps us bring abstractions to life – to bring color to grey thoughts that linger in our minds.

 

Let’s talk about daily writing today.  Shall we?

Today, I’d like to share a few resources that have helped me keep my personal writing up:

Although I’ve loved writing and journaling since I was a child, it was Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance:  A Daybook of Comfort and Joy that reminded me in my adult years to write down my thoughts each day.  She calls it her “daily dialogue” – pulling out the thoughts from her head – her “stream of consciousness” - and putting them on paper each day.

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, is also a staunch believer in daily writing.  She calls her writing doing her “morning pages” – taking half an hour or so to extract all of the thoughts in her mind in the morning and putting them on paper so she can think more clearly throughout the day. 

This past summer, I reinstated mandatory morning pages for this mama – and it was just what I needed.  I set my alarm each morning during the week (weekends were optional) to wake up one hour before my children.  All I needed was a cup of hot coffee and my notebook and pen – these were simple pleasures that allowed me to get reacquainted with myself.  And they are still my favorite things!

Take some time to find a notebook (and a writing utensil!) that feels comfortable.  You may decide to choose a lovely journal. Or, you may feel a spiral notebook is more your style.  Because I write so much and so frequently, spiral notebooks have become a great option - they’re easier to keep up with, they’re larger and more economical since I’m buying them often.  This summer, though, I chose a journal I felt would boost my creativity a bit:

If paper is not your favorite thing, or if you’re really trying to minimize things and stick with technology, try using Evernote.  It’s a great application that is available for most smart phones and all computers.  When I’m caught without paper, I use Evernote on my phone.  It’s super user-friendly, and it's also slightly addicting.

Daily writing is not so much about the paper or pens – but about the routine of taking time for yourself to be aware of your thoughts.  To stop and breathe and think.  What is God telling you today?  What is on your mind?  What challenges do you need to work through? What things are you excited about?

One thing today:  Find a notebook that you love.  Then find a pen that writes comfortably.  Or, check out Evernote online and/or download the free app on your phone.  Take five minutes to write!

Resources:

Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Evernote

Hello, 31 days of finding our passion.

“Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny.”  ~Thomas Merton

Welcome to a journey, friend.

Today begins a 31-day expedition to finding our passion and learning a little more about ourselves. My hope is that this will be a journey for both of us that will reunite us with our passion(s): first, by identifying those elements we feel so strongly about, and secondly, by finding a path to pursue them.   

God has hard-wired us to have passions - but we need to find them!  This month, I hope to help you find yours.

My story...

This year, I’m in a new season of life:  my baby boy just began kindergarten this fall and is in school full-time.  My other baby is a strong-willed fourth-grade girl who is ready to conquer the world!  For the first time, our babies are finally together at the same school.  (And, yes, I will always refer to them as my babies.  Always.)  I’m still trying to get used to this new season of not having any children at home.  I've had a few emotional days.

In my past season of life, though, when I was the mama of littles running around the house and had very limited free time, I let tasks and commitments govern me – and made little to no time for personal creative pursuits.  Only mama and house business.  All the time.  Fresh food first.  Laundry next.  Exercise and sleep (good – but not always fun).  Commitments after that. ...These activities left very little mental creative time for this mama.  Plus, I was basing my self-worth on how well I was finishing my to-do list every day.  

Once my little guy dropped his afternoon nap, I set no boundaries for my personal time (which is also when I stopped blogging).  I love spending time with our children, but I seldom saved any of my time for the one thing I needed most:  creative dabbling, dwelling in possibility, resting in an idea, pursuing a creative vision.  It seemed too self-indulgent!  Discipline as a wife, mother and other roles had won:  it wouldn’t leave any room for beauty, spontaneity, whimsy, color or fun. 

This past spring, I found myself feeling a little lost - wondering who I was beyond being a mother. I felt very grey - like I was living in a monotone world.  (Remember the movie “Pleasantville”?) After several tearful conversations with my supportive husband, I realized that I had become so disciplined that I had simply lost a part of myself.  The creative path was no longer a part of my life; I had simply lost my role as a creative writer mama.  

And I wasn’t even sure I had the energy to get it back.

Baby steps

The more mamas I speak to, the more I'm learning that this lack of passion is a common experience for many women.

What about you?  How are you feeling today?

Take a few minutes to think about what’s on your mind and write down your thoughts.  Start creating some mental space for things other than your to-do list. What do you feel passionate about today?

Taking time to write down my thoughts a few minutes each day was the beginning of a therapeutic, productive process.  I'll share more about that tomorrow.

 

The Oxford Dictionary defines passion as strong emotion or enthusiasm; eagerness, intensity, zeal, mania, obsession, craze, hunger, itch, yearning, longing, desire.

How about a cup of this?  Yes, please!

Looking forward to our journey.

I'd like to dedicate this post to Kat at HowTheyBlog.com and Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy.  Anne talked about passion in a recent interview with Kat - and it really sparked a creative process.  Many thanks, Kat and Anne.