The other evening I asked Charles if we could sit down and talk. I told him I wanted his opinion about something. So we discussed these thoughts and I took notes. I told him that I did not know why I could not seem to finish anything. That as long as we have been working to get ourselves into our old fashioned simple life I feel I may never finish. We decided that some of the reason is that we never had long term goals, we just lived life. So we have spent a long time "literally" undoing what we had done during the time we did not have a goal.
If we would would have planned more instead of just living life I do believe it would have helped prevented us from wasting money to buy things we would later toss out. I have learned my lesson on purchasing poor quality items and I feel we absolutely would have had more money in savings.
Have you ever felt you were just running around in circles? Can't ever seem to get things done? Do you feel like you never will get finished?
So this is what Charles and I figured out.
There are constant things and seasonal things that we do.
Constant is dishes, laundry, cleaning, cooking. For us the spring, summer and fall "constant's" are cutting grass, watering, feeding plants, cleaning things out doors added to our indoor daily constants.
So we now realize we are cramming everything all together instead of using our seasons as our guide. In the winter farmers fix their plows, tractors, tools. Winter is a good time to knit, crochet, repair. For Charles it would be a good time for woodwork, service the lawnmower etc.
If we don't live seasonal we can become very overwhelmed because the extra seasonal things are done after the constant daily/weekly things are done. I think that we live so instant now that we forget about the seasons other than the weather.
I "want" to do lacework, knit, crochet and sew all year, Charles "want's" to do woodwork all year but there are other things that "need" to be done. We cannot always do what we want to do.
Some may want to watch movies or television or play games or scroll through social media but that only puts you behind if the other things are not done.
Rainy days can be "Gift" days. Do something off your want to do list. Not necessarily a real list but a mental list. We can make it a non gloomy day and do something off the list of things we want to do, something easy.
When I was young our house burned. It was a difficult time for us, we were displaced, we had almost died in the fire and everything we knew changed. But it was a life lesson at least for me.
After the fire I did not fantasize about living in a big beautiful home or having the latest clothing, I just wanted to live in a simple home. These things did not matter to me anymore. Family and having the things we "need" have always been what is important to me. I know in the United States we are encouraged to dream big but big is not always better. Living a simple life can bring peace with not having high bills and upkeep.
So my problem is not from having too big of house to clean or too much of anything it has to do with not living seasonally and cramming things all year. We need our seasons.
When we get up in the morning we all have things to do if we are taking care of the space we live. Many work outside the home but still have household responsibilities.
We should do those things and get them out of the way. Canning season is a very busy time so we need to prepare for that season. If we don't can then we may still "Put Up Food" we may blanch and freeze food. It is what our generations before us did.
If we don't want to always eat food that has preservatives in it then we need to cook from scratch. We don't need to sit looking through social media and losing hours we need to do the things that makes our house or apartment a home and keeps us healthy.
Remember the old journal I found that started in 1891 and went all the way to the 1940s that I did a post about? ...
It has taught me a lot and I still have not read it all the way through. This family planned because that is what people did back then. It was so different than today, at first they traveled by horse and buggy then later it was car fare. They kept a budget and knew what their expenses were and what they were going to need. They knew the cost of food and how much they would need. They kept a record in this book for 40 years.
Do you know how much money you have in your wallet or your bank account? Do you know what the price of eggs and butter are at the grocer? Or do you just go and pay whatever it is when you show up there? Do you shop with a list or figure it out when you get to the store? This is how so many people live today. Just because the world is on a fast track does not mean that we should not be just as responsible as the family that kept this journal back in the early 1900s.
So when I finish my grocery list, after taking inventory and meal planning I will go to the store to purchase what we need for the duration that I have chosen until I need to shop again.
When I finish making the bed I will start the laundry not my knitting.
When I finish making breakfast I will wash those dishes before I check electronics.
When I finish washing dishes, the laundry will be ready to hang out on the clothesline.
When I finish hanging clothes on the clothesline I will run the vacuum not getting side tracked with other things that will complicate my day.
Now that it is spring when I finish hanging the laundry I "Need" to tend the garden and lawn.
I need to live seasonal so I can finish each day feeling like I have better control on what I am doing so I am not working all the time and feeling exhausted. I am hoping that living seasonal will slow the pace where things are being done at a more tolerable pace and we will have time to do some of those want to do things.
I am looking at this with a different perspective now. I realize that I need to expect these seasonal chores to come up and plan for them. I always know there is extra work during certain seasons but I don't always leave off the want to do's. Does that make sense?
I do too many of the things I want to do before the things I need to do so my priorities are not right. This only causes frustration because it puts me behind and creates clutter.
Your seasons could be children in sports activities. There are many modern things today that eat up our time if we let it. You might not be a gardener but still have busy times certain times of the year. If we plan to leave off those things we "want" to do to do the things we "need" to do we might have more time.
Notice the things we do that wastes our time.
Society Garlic blooming in our back yard this week.
Have a place for everything and put everything in its place and your life will be less overwhelming. That is my wisdom for each day..... And now add, try living seasonal.... Grandma Donna
