Day 1: Owning your Life…..

 

 

This is an experiment.

Do you want to join me?

It’s called, Operation: Relishing-Every-Single-Day-of-October… and  it all started when I woke up this morning and didn’t even realize it was the first day of October.

That’s right, here’s my absolute favorite month of the year and somehow my life has gotten so sped up that I didn’t even realize it was here already.

And even though my immediate thought was, “Wow, how did the days slip by?”

The truth is, I’ve had this uncomfortable awareness that my pace has been too hurried, with too items on my wish list, too many home projects jotted in my calendar book, and yes, too much discontent.

And I’ve noticed something.

I’ve noticed that no mater how many items I’m scratching off my list there’s always so much more to get done. I won’t bore you with a photo of the unopened boxes in our garage right now, but it seems like it never ends. Do you know what I mean?…

Even my blogging which is usually a source of joy has gotten me down lately. It bothers me when I can’t catch up on my visits to other blogs. Or when I’m not responding to my comments, which mean so much to me.

But mostly I’ve noticed a sense of loss after I visit all the lovely Fall Home Tours going on in Blogland right now.  Honestly. It’s like standing outside a big, festive party and looking in through a smudgy window. I guess it makes me realize how much I really love styling and photographing my home for you all.

And there it is. My problem in a nutshell.

Dreaming and planning is a slippery slope. It can easily get you dissatisfied with what you’ve got at the moment.

Ever since we got into this new home I’ve been in a constant state of planning for our home renovations. Focusing on the yuck carpet that I want to be rid of... Getting quotes. Collecting ideas. Yada yada yada.

But the problem with being engrossed in home renovations is that it’s easy to live too much in the future where all the prettiness will be. Instead of right where my little old body is, in the midst of my sometimes messy-chaotic-very unfinished life.  I’ve heard people say they have similar reactions after visiting perfectly staged blogger homes.

It can plant a quiet seed of discontent in us.

Sigh. It’s all about balance isn’t it?

But here’s my bottom line: This month I want to live more in the NOW. I want to get off the hurry train and be more mindful of the little blessings I’ve been missing by focusing on this darn house.

So I had this idea and maybe you can join me.

Earlier this year when I did my 30 day yoga challenge I learned a powerful lesson. It’s fascinating really, but when you commit to doing something new everyday your life begins to change in other ways. You begin to count your days. Notice the dates. Suddenly you’re acutely aware of how much time is passing and it’s this kind of open-eyed alertness, that actually helps you slow down. And own your life.

After all, this is it. Today.

This is your body,

this is your age,

this is weight,

this is your house,

this is your small, sacred space in the world right where you are today.

Now repeat after me.

I know. Pretty powerful huh?

Alright, here’s my plan.

It’s 31 days of showing up in October.

Every day during October I’m going to come here to Gwen Moss land and write something down. Period. Hopefully it will inspire you, it will be the same kind of topics, just a shorter version. But it will be my way of staying fully present during the month of October.

Heck, I’ve never done this before so my goal is to work on the ‘art of imperfection.’ That means not having to worry about posting perfect pictures or posts with typos.

Hey, it’s just you and me right? Hanging out together.

This October …lets experiment.

Grab your own notebook or your laptop or your IPhone or your own blog and join me by jotting down something each day in October.

And let’s savor the small stuff.

 

 

xoxo

Leslie

 

 

Technorati Tags: 31 days of october inspiration