Life Changes

Life Changes. 
Just ask anyone who has lived a few years on our dear planet earth and they'll agree. Nothing ever stays the same. It's forever decaying, growing, evolving, ending, beginning, or in some other way changing for the--I won't say better or worse--so I'll say, for the different.

This past weekend I focused on three major changes in my environment:

1. Hang curtains
2. Hang pictures, clocks and mirrors
3. Empty the living space of every cardboard box

Those were major steps to accomplish my main goal which was much broader and had greater meaning:

Turn my Pleasant Little Palace

into inhabitable space

The days of eye clutter, floor clutter and narrow trails needed to end, and a welcoming and comforting atmosphere begged to take root. I wasn't focused on decor ruling supreme, but in taming our living space so a different type of living took place. 

Life is infinitely more valuable than the space it's lived in, although I believe living spaces shape our lives and are infinitely important.

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So up went 3 curtain rods and the cute new JCPenney curtains I had to wait an eternity for. A whole 5 days actually, which is very long when you're excited. Of course, that meant lots of measuring, planning, choosing, shopping, climbing the ladder, searching for tools, consulting the budget, and making holes in walls.

It all paid off. I love the bedroom curtains. They sift incoming light. All the copy I read about curtains claim they "filter" light, but mine stepped out of the narrow curtain rut they'd been thrust into and actually sift light. I have no idea how these panels became so unique, but after they were hung they did their own little shift-to-sift thing. I love them and their personality. The front porch light that never blinks off after dark is now sifted and I'm no longer fooled into thinking it's morning at 1:28 AM, and again at 3:04, and once more at 4:10. See why I love these happy little sifting curtains?!? I now sleep! All night! And very restfully. They are magical sifting curtains.

 

Life changes. That was my thesis statement, not curtains. Yes, I've changed addresses lately, but that's not my focus either. You see, it's really easy to set up a new home base. All you do is box things up, unbox things, toss in a table and a few chairs, add breakfast, lunch and dinner fixings, include a dishwasher, open a closet and load it up, add a few other essentials, hang curtains, include your family, and you're good to go, right? Moving is easy! (I never could have said that 2 weeks ago!)

My blog has changed. It feels like it's morphed into a moving/decorating caught-up-in-home-and-style type blog. That wasn't my intention, and yet, it's okay because that's what I've just lived through. I always planned on it being Running & Writing my life. Running was a huge part of my life when I began. I did the foot pounding runs of a true runner. I loved it and lived for it. Of course, I did lots of other living, but I planned each day around that activity. Not that I ran every day, but that running was specific, planned, and also spontaneous. Always.

On non-running days I did other big things. Those were days when 3 hours of my life were not consumed by running. (No, I didn't run for 3 hours. Instead, I goofed off, got dressed, ran for 60-75 minutes or more, cooled down for a while, goofed off some more, and before I knew it, 3 hours had passed before I returned to what some refer to as real life.) In all, I generally allowed myself a nice big window of time in order to run for an hour or so and soak up sunshine, rain, snow and joy. 

But I also run my life. Almost always I use a day planner. I haven't elevated it to dictatorship level, only adviser, and plan to keep it that way. If I feel crabby I close it. More crabby, and I chuck it aside. Once I heaved it across the room and swore I'd burn it. Yeah, right. An organized person can't burn a day planner, and that flutter of paper wings knew that as it flew toward the wall. It laughed at me as it hit and tumbled to the floor where it lay waiting for me to retrieve it later.

Writing has hit the wall a few times. Not from a writer's block type hitting, but from having no time to create, or being too distracted, or too busy, or too involved in other important and imperative things I live for.

Those two things (no more running & not writing) combined like a double whammy and forced some big changes in my life. Now that almost all the curtains are hung and I'm not contemplating painting or upholstering anything, and the boxes aren't bugging me, I have time to write--mixing one of my favorite addictions back into my life. 

For a long time now I've been considering what I'll write. I'm contemplating branching out. I'm not ready to dive into technical writing. I can't picture myself heading toward sci-fi. I'm not interested in some genres. Hmmm. 

Expect some changes coming up...

Probably not my voice, but possibly.

Genre. Yep, most likely.

No, it won't be shelter.

Could begin with completing novels and polishing others.

But maybe not.

Stay tuned...