A Word About Sundays…

When I first considered blogging about simple living, I thought that it might be an oxymoron.  But it turns out that writing regularly about simplicity keeps me thinking about it… keeps me focused on whether or not my choices foster simplicity.  And, the best way to write about Stella Sunday Afternoons is to have them.

I’m talking about timelessness… puttering .  No appointments.  No plans.  No deadlines.  On Sundays, I want to rest so that on Monday I can more easily merge onto that great highway of busyness: the emails, the voice mails, the seemingly endless decision making.

Resting doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing.  It means doing what recharges my batteries.  What builds my reserves.

Two weekends ago, five hours of working in the garden was rejuvenating.  I transformed weed choked walls into a sunlit interior as I pruned back bushes that had overstepped their boundaries.   I knew, exactly, the moment when I had done enough.  I stopped, then made a simple supper of beets and quinoa for the pure pleasure of seeing how the red juice highlights the tiny white grains when cooked together.  Rejuvenation came as much from the stopping as from the doing.

I spent time writing too… another blog entry that I wanted to post that day… but it wasn’t ready.  The photos were challenging    Frustrating.  I felt a frenzy coming on.   So I played hooky from posting.  I chose to let go of my goal of posting every Sunday.

All week long, I generate lists of the tasks I want and need to finish.  As a self employed, small business owner, I must provide my own motivation.  Productivity = Payments.  However, what is appropriate to my working life can be draining if I don’t take a break.   The key to Stella Sundays is transforming my drive into coasting.  To shift my thinking.  To change gears.

Even if I post only once a week, blogging is not a one day activity.  It is an ongoing decision to examine my life and to write about what shows up. This week, I notice that simple living is not just about getting rid of material clutter.  It’s about getting rid of mental clutter also.

Do you ever hum a honey tune
as you buzz from one moment to the next
poking your nose into everything colorful and bright?
And do you come away with leggings thick with joy
that pollinate your day?