Good Morning!
Happy New Year!
How is your heart today?
(Get a load of that fruit bowl, right? Pears, pomegranates, pinenuts, hemp seeds and raw cacoa nibs! Delish! I've just embarked on a strict elimination diet to identify a food sensitivity that has gone on for WAY too long, but LOOK at what I get to eat!)
I love everything that a new year symbolizes: the passage of time, a fresh opportunity to claim your destiny, a time to reevaluate goals and set them anew. The last few days BC and I have walked miles with the pups, mulling over exactly what we want and exactly how we want to get there. We've drafted lists and plans and I had the perfect excuse to order a gorgeous daily agenda from a lovely bookmaker. It feels so hopeful!
The last few days we've been so hard at work that I've decided to take a "personal morning." Way back in another life, when BC and I both were sprinting the fast track, working double jobs, I discovered that personal days were the key to my sanity. They often fell under the ruse of food poisoning, but really you would find me strolling the streets of Santa Cruz eating a carmel apple with a sack of new-used books slung over shoulder. I would buy two, count 'em, TWO lattés and read fiction in a tiny rustic cafe. They are some of my very favorite memories of that period of life and while the 70 hour workweek has passed, the personal day lives on.
So.
That's how I'm being kind to myself today. And I'm bringing a sturdy cotton bag for my [hopeful] book cache.
What are you doing for you this week? This year? I'd love to know!
~ Umber ~
Happy New Year!
How is your heart today?
(Get a load of that fruit bowl, right? Pears, pomegranates, pinenuts, hemp seeds and raw cacoa nibs! Delish! I've just embarked on a strict elimination diet to identify a food sensitivity that has gone on for WAY too long, but LOOK at what I get to eat!)
I love everything that a new year symbolizes: the passage of time, a fresh opportunity to claim your destiny, a time to reevaluate goals and set them anew. The last few days BC and I have walked miles with the pups, mulling over exactly what we want and exactly how we want to get there. We've drafted lists and plans and I had the perfect excuse to order a gorgeous daily agenda from a lovely bookmaker. It feels so hopeful!
The last few days we've been so hard at work that I've decided to take a "personal morning." Way back in another life, when BC and I both were sprinting the fast track, working double jobs, I discovered that personal days were the key to my sanity. They often fell under the ruse of food poisoning, but really you would find me strolling the streets of Santa Cruz eating a carmel apple with a sack of new-used books slung over shoulder. I would buy two, count 'em, TWO lattés and read fiction in a tiny rustic cafe. They are some of my very favorite memories of that period of life and while the 70 hour workweek has passed, the personal day lives on.
So.
That's how I'm being kind to myself today. And I'm bringing a sturdy cotton bag for my [hopeful] book cache.
What are you doing for you this week? This year? I'd love to know!
~ Umber ~
20 comments:
ooo what a great post. i am absolutely in deep about those personal days. very strict with myself about taking time off to relax or do things i love. that food looks delicious!
That fruit bowl!
I needed this post. Our rent is about to go up, and I know I'll be needing to increase my hours at work, even as I try to keep this my "year off to write". Knowing that your spritely, painterly soul survived 70-hour work weeks once upon a time is enormous encouragement.
Brit - It's such funny thing; when it's been too long I find myself feeling cramped on the insides, fussy and stale. It's just so healing to go out with zero agenda!
Lizzy - Oh girl. There was a period of time that BC and I were working such crazy hours that from the time we went to bed on Sunday night until I awoke Thursday morning, we did not even cross paths. It was madness when I think back to it, but somehow even in the midst, I kept painting and painting. So I know you will write. Because the words in you are thicker than blood.
A truly delicious image, I have been lucky to identify my food intolerance, unfortunately it means that my favorite Starbucks toffee nut Latte has to go out the window (sigh) will have to replace my book reading, people watching beverage with something else not so heavy on the dairy.
delicious meal indeed! I used to take one night off a week- turn off my phone, my computer, everything, and just do whatever I wanted- read, watch tv, cook. And really, just even that was enough to get me through the workweek and socializing with friends. Now I borrow time here and there- on a long train ride, on a bike ride, on a cold run along the lake. Personal days are so necessary. So very necessary.
Personal days are the sweetest of all self-care prescriptions! I love the visual you painted - a two latte day spent with books in a little nook sounds like soul-kindness to me!
This week is a crazy one for me; very little "me" time, but I squeeze in a latte break & puppy snuggles to keep me afloat.
p.s. I recently found out I am sensitive to wheat, dairy & most of all, sugar. Made a BIG difference to my health to finally figure that out! I hope your elimination diet helps you get to the root of your food sensitivies. (I had to give up ALL sugar for a few months, including all fruit! painful!)
that is my goal for the year - the bus stop is outside my house, but i'm so afriad to go out alone. I have a favourite 2nd hand book shop round the corner from my hubby's office in Belfast. All I dream of doing is going up in the bus, getting another lovely book, meeting up with the hubby and then going to a few of my favourite cafes and reading, taking photos and art journaling (a new thing for me). It feels like I'll never reach that goal, but I love that you can and that you share the joy xxx
Lynsey - I tell you true, I think part of the reason I've just dealt with it for so long is that I don't WANT to give up on something so tasty! But the people watching must go on, right?
Heidi - Right there with you.
C - Sheesh girl! But it's so encouraging to hear that you've figured them out and that it really HELPS. Fingers crossed it's not wheat because LORD do I love bread. ;)
Carrie - Oh lady. I have so SO much faith that it CAN become a reality for you. Tiny tiny baby steps.
elimination diet you say? if it's gluten and/or dairy that end up being the culprits, give me a holla, i'm full of great resources for your potentially restricted gourmet needs!!
what am i planning for this year? staying afloat while working and raising my beautiful boy, hopefully getting out for some regular exercise, and hopefully keeping my house clean. not asking too much i hope.
happy new year love
j
Oh I love how you treat yourself lady!!!!
sooooooo good
this week has been a week of intense...and I mean intense purging!
Never have I purged like this...I feel possessed
A full truck load to the dump today
a full truck load to the second hand store tomorrow
recycling was ridiculous this week...not sure "the guys" appreciated it much, but oh well....
letting go
clearing out
opening space
not for other stuff...but for breathe, life, song dance, dreams, aspirations, inspirations, hopes.....
hard work, but it feels good
then there is the project of turning little mans room into a bigger mans room to match the drafting desk he received at Christmas...paint will be hitting those walls....
there is a hope of publication this year
the dream of purchasing some land out and away from the city rat race
the desire to see my kids in Colombia
the joy of seeing my oldest graduate...school has not been his friend.....
so many many things
sorry so long....
but you did ask ; )
Love and Light
ps did you receive my christmas card?
Jordan - I'd be lying if I hadn't already planned on coming to you with whatever restrictions arise. I hear nothing but you being the gluten-free-goddess!
Cat - I did ask and I LOVE hearing it. Isn't it wild how emotionally draining but simultaneously great it feels to purge what's unnecessary? You're opening up so much heart-room! And YES beautiful lady, I DID get your card-plus! xox!
Yeah to the New Year and all of the new stuff coming our way and new beginnings for each of us!
i needed to read this.
i need to take more personal days.
i zoom around like crazy, even on "days off"....
blessings to you and BC and the animals at this new year change....
xx
Good morning Kelly! I don't take personal days because they seem too short to me. I take a personal hour, or at least I used to, once a week. The idea was to go and read in a coffee shop with my coffee and book. The only reason I don't do that as much is because the coffee shops around us are like schoolrooms, people bring their laptops and never leave. So there it is. I have to discover their unfavorable time and re-start my personal hour. You are the second or third person that has reminded me to set personal goals....I must do that. xx
Nancy - Here Here!
Foxy - It's so easy to forget, so easy to run like a madwoman (and I only say this because I too often do).
MLJ - Hmm. Maybe we need to open a series of cafés without a single outlet in sight. And really REALLY effing awesome coffee. Especially that. Because I know you put up with some lesser sauce down there!
The fruit bowl looks delish and I love the pottery bowls too.
I love the opportunity to evaluate whether I've met my goals and to set new ones. Unlike some people who find this process overwhelming, I find it helps to keep me moving forward rather than fritter away my days which is easy to do since I have chronic illness. Even if I don't meet all my goals, at least I can meet some of them. You're welcome to come by and read my goals for the year.
Hugs and very best wishes for a wonderful 2012!
You have a love affair with pottery that I've never been able to even remotely keep up with. I always go to etsy and peruse the items, but they never seem as great as the ones I chose for tea or yogurt when I'm at your house. I am thinking this has more to do with you than the pottery, so I am going to nix this expensive habit - since I already have too many. HOWEVER, if anyone wanted to start a collection for me over various years of friendship, now that would be something. ;)
I had my first true personal day in ages last week. Shopping and a hot stone massage...heaven...I will remember to have another soon. I also am curious to know your coffee shop of choice in Santa Cruz...I miss it there so much. Happy Friday!!
some of the things "to do" on my 2012 list: take time everyday to write and create, go to a sweat lodge, finish my raw/vegan recipe book.
This post was so lovely. It made me think of my own past and what I would do with my own personal day. Unfortunately "slow" is no where near my vocabulary lately. With a big move across country up ahead, I feel time's noose tightening--eek! Truthfully speaking though, even with all the daunting packing, I am imagining adventure, an open road, new smells, and fantastic journey up ahead. It's what dreams are made of so how can I complain? My plan is to write, read, photograph, and keep my eyes wide open. Thanks for an inspiring post and a peek at your delicious breakfast!!
xo
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