10 Things...Day Five

1. It’s still snowing big lazy puff balls

2. I shovel the driveway and clear off the car. It’s good to move my body and breath the crisp air.

3.I really (really) hate the new robot at STop & Shop.

4. There’s still nothing for lunch despite just getting back from the store.

5. Laundry and picking up a bit and hearing good news from a friend.

6. Our games came! We played so long that supper was late.

7. Some nights self care is doing the dishes and putting a load of laundry away at 8PM

8. I love being all snuggled up on the couch together for our read aloud

9. A new month tomorrow, so many possibilities. I need to also remember to stay in the present.

10. So that’s why my body has been aching so much...the shoveling.

10 Things...Day Four

1. It is so cold. But the hat I finally finished for myself is so warm!

2. Hope.

3. Vikings. Tool they used, where they travelled, and then making replicas of everything out of cardboard. This is school today.

4. I spent way more time than needed trying to connect the TV to the wi-fi. Only to realize at the end that I really DO need to order a remote for it.

5. Lemon cake from the King Arthurs recipe of 2017. I did something wrong—maybe cooked too long—it wasn’t fluffy and moist. Then it turned hard as a rock.

6.Two heads collided leaving one with what will probably be a pretty good black eye tomorrow.

7. Supper is whatever. I am over thinking of meals for this week.

8. I wish I’d bought this color yarn for socks for me too!!

9. My mind is so tired and overwhelmed—mainly because there has been WAY too much mindless screens.

10. Hope and encouragment at the end of the day too. This day was bookended with it.

10 Things...Day 3

1. Up as the sun rose. It flooded the house with golden light as it came over the trees.

2. It is still so windy and I am still feeling prickly and I slept funny so I have a crick in my neck.

3. 10 minutes of writing. It’s good to write through feelings but I remind myself I need to take action too.

4. Errands. A bunch of stores but we only needed a few things in each. People were so slow and annoyed me!

5. It is so cold and so windy and I said “hurry up!” More times and much more impatiently than I should have.

6. What do I need? What can I give to myself?

7. More water. Close my eyes for 20 minutes. Dance party with the girls.

8. Sausage, pepper & onion sandwiches for supper.

9. I love that it’s still light out at 5:55pm.

10. Knitting and Big Bang Theory before bed. I need to start going to bed before 11.

10 Things....Day 2

1. I really want to start getting up by 6:30. Stop hitting snooze. I feel like I’m missing the magic, the holy time.

2. It feels good to put all the laundry away & clean the bathrooms.

3. The Greatest Showman songs. They make us all so happy and joyful. It feels good to dance around the house singing.

4. I love seeing all the creativity happening. The little bits of paper all over drive me a bit crazy—so I really try to focus on what they are creating and how their imaginations are flourishing.

5. Space. For imagination & creativity & play. This is the life I’m cultivating for us all.

6. Snow squalls and blue skies and wild wind.

7. The smell of orange and lavender.

8. Listening to and chatting with Veronica while she eats. I need to do more one on one time with them.

9. I think it’s the wind—or the February blahs—but I’ve been so prickly the last few days.

10. Less screen time for all is much needed.

10 Things....Day 1

I was inspired a few years ago (that long already?) by Alisha Sommer who began writing a list of 10 things each day. She was inspired (I believe) by the poet Marie Howe. So I looked up Marie Howe and found this episode of OnBeing where she said this:

I ask my students every week to write 10 observations of the actual world.  It’s very hard for them… Just tell me what you saw this morning like in two lines.  I saw a water glass on a brown tablecloth, and the light came through it in three places.  No metaphor.  And to resist metaphor is very difficult because you have to actually endure the thing itself, which hurts us for some reason.

In an effort to begin my own practice of "observing, being astonished, and telling about it" (from Mary Oliver)  I'm going to begin my own daily list of 10 things to share here. 

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1. The clouds are hanging heavy but the rain hasn't begun yet.

2. Coloring crosses and listening to kindergartners talk about God. They are so wise in their simplicity.

3. This place really is holy--I need to open up to it more

4. Here's the rain. Tons of it.

5. I really should run to the grocery store, instead I put on my comfy pants, my favorite sweater and curl up in my chair.

6.Three Disney movies in a row. There could be worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon.

7. The way the dark bare branches look way up high against the grey sky always reminds me of poetry.

8. Hours of sitting knitting makes my body sore, my eyes itch and my mood off. I need to remember to take breaks and stretch.

9. Supper is whatever we can find. I really should have gone to the store.

10. Why do the girls always go crazy wild and loud at bedtimes? I am ready for quiet and peace!

Enchanted Wandering

“Regular wandering provides us with mental space so that ideas have a chance to form. When you start to feel that itch of needing to fill up that void and to check in on-line, remind yourself how good it feels to be in your body. Remind. yourself that your mind is powerful only if you give it the space to ponder. Focus on the breath. The Wanderer has power over her impulses. For creativity, you need to let your brain/mind wander. Daydream as if your life depends on it.”

It was in 2016 I believe, that The Wander Society book was published; I have re-read it probably once a year since then. I actually am due for another re-read!

Enchanted: Noun; a feeling of great pleasure, delight.

Wander: Verb; to walk/explore/amble in an unplanned or aimless way with a complete openness to the unknown.

The term enchanted came to me at the end of 2016; I put the two together and declared 2017 the year of Enchanted Wandering. I had grand plans for that phrase. I began a notebook that I called “My Book of Enchanted Wandering” and filled it with quotes and lists. I even opened an Etsy shop and named it Enchanted Wandering. I had big ideas for a blog of the same name; it’s just taken me two years to put the idea into action. 

Or, maybe not. Maybe it has simply taken two years for the ideas to swirl around inside of me into the form of what they want to be in the world, and how they want me to present them. The two years have given me space to grow and gain confidence in my ideas and writing and how I want that all to look.

I like that idea better than the story I’ve been telling myself, that I’m just a procrastinator.

I feel like Enchanted Wandering is perfect for creatives of all sorts. Especially for me, who has struggled to figure out what type of creativity I should do. I want to write, but I don’t feel like I want to pinhole myself into a specific genre or medium. I love poetry and prose; essays and non-fiction; I find inspiration in nature and light; in simple beauty and art. All of these things (and more) bring me great feelings of delight….so I wander through them all with a complete openness to the unknown and what paths I will follow on a given day. 

All of this to say, that is why I’ve decided to call this humble blog “Enchanted Wandering.” There is no set schedule of when I will post; or what I will post. Sometimes a poem. Sometimes a list. Sometimes whatever is on my mind. And so much more.  I am grateful for you accompanying me on my Enchanted Wandering.