You can see how my week has gone

Puzzles:

(some of the weird-shaped pieces!)

Naps and books:

Long walks outdoors:

The perfect hygge moment

Hickory nut tarts baked and eaten. Fireplace on. Three Pines on the telly. Warm canine curled up against my hip. Wind howling outside. A week off work stretching before me. Turkey thawing in the kitchen. Christmas tomorrow.

Perfect.

Finally got it this Christmas

The tree is decorated. The Christmas cards are sent. The presents are purchased, wrapped, and hidden until Christmas Eve. The annual baking spree is done and distributed. The holiday music is on (the good Classical stuff, not the Burl Ives and Bing Crosby stuff). The nativity set is displayed on the bookshelf. The turkey is actually already cooked and in the freezer to make dinner easier. (Full confession, sometimes we just have frozen leftovers from Thanksgiving.) Family get-together time has been coordinated. Church choir is primed and ready. Grandkids' festive recitals have been attended. Snow shovel and bags of de-icer are poised by the door. 

Nothing left to do but enjoy a peaceful week running up to Christmas. Reading by the glowing tree. Picking out carols on the piano. Sneaking a carton of egg nog into the shopping cart while the diet police are distracted. (Well, and wrapping up things at work in preparation for a week off after Christmas.) Just staying home and crocheting by the fireplace. Lovely!

Every year I vow to get things done ahead of time so that there's no last-minute panicking, and so that I can avoid the inevitable frenzy of traffic and line-ups at stores. Some years I'm good at it, and other years I'm not. Sometimes it involves last-minute gift-finding. Sometimes I fall back on "That'll do" and abandon grander plans. Whatever preparations I've made for this important season, they're enough. At some point, you sit back and just be in the moment.

I'm hoping I have the same attitude when it comes to Jesus's Second Coming. I can picture it now. I'm standing there with my incomplete Ministering assignment and my good intentions puddled around my feet, my heart not quite loving, my spirit not quite humble. A list of To Do's still in my head. And there's Jesus on CNN, gleefully announcing "Ready or not, here I come!"

I hope I will be able on that day to forget my To Do list, quiet my anxieties, let go of everything I'm clutching in my fists, and turn to him with open hands and heart.

I hope I can do that now.

A writing day

Yesterday I took the day off work to attend a brief virtual writing seminar and to spend the day pondering what to do for my next book. I have lots of ideas, but most of them sound boring or too small to flesh into a full book. Some of my pet projects seem to be stalled for one reason or another. Some ideas sound promising but too labour-intensive to take on right now. I think I feel an historical fiction story coming on, but I'm not entirely sure about it yet, and there would be a lot of research required.

While I was waffling on what to do, the day was wasting, so I decided to scroll through a bunch of ideas and half-starts on an old memory stick to see if anything jumped out at me. I came across a romance/mystery manuscript I began years ago and forgot about. It's already at 53,000 words, which is a solid beginning. So I turned on the fireplace, got myself a snack of raisins, peanuts, and coconut (and there may or may not have been chocolate chips stolen from my baking stash), and spent the day writing.

There are times I feel like taking the time to write is selfish or narrow-visioned, with all that is going on in the world and so much good needing to be done. But I have to say, taking a whole day to just sit with my thoughts and explore creativity was wonderful and nourishing. It has been a long time since I had the luxury, and I had forgotten how all-consuming it can be. It seems I hardly sat down before it was 3:00 and time to go do other things. It was like waking up from a nice nap. Will this particular story end up going anywhere? Only time will tell, but meanwhile, I had a great day!

It's important from time to time to immerse yourself in something you love, something that feeds your soul. Ideally, you also incorporate it in bite-size pieces each day instead of making yourself wait for a rare, dedicated, entire day. You don't thrive just eating one big meal a month, after all. It has to be a habitual part of daily life. Unfortunately, we often let life's Have-Tos squeeze out the more soul-nourishing things.

I dream someday of conducting writing retreats and artist workshops, of offering other people a respite from the world and a time and space where they can make their thoughts tangible. I imagine myself offering to take care of all the little irritating distractions (like cooking) so that they can focus on their passions. You know, it's a small thing we could do for each other, here and now, without having to go on a formal retreat. You cook for me this evening, I'll cook for you that evening, and we give each other a break. You weed my garden so I can spend today writing, and I'll watch your kids so you can spend tomorrow painting...

Cooperative creativity. I like the sound of that.

It's taken me a long time to get it

All my life, I've been fascinated by real estate. I think part of it stems from going to Home Shows with my mom, or sneaking through half-built construction projects (with that magic feeling of being able to walk through framed walls). Exploring properties brings stories to my mind and fires my imagination. All my life, I've asked myself a stream of rising questions... What would it be like to live in this place? Who used to live here and what did they love? How did this place shape them? What did it look like before this community was built? How would it affect you to grow up with that view? 

Which led to further, more personal questions: If I had to pick one view to look at forever, what would it be, mountains or farm fields or forest or ocean? Which style do I like better, Mid-Century Modern or Craftsman or Edwardian or Victorian or... I even ask myself if I had a farm, what breed of cows or chickens would be best to raise? As if I needed to choose.

Ever since we bought the old church we're renovating, I've found myself asking a new question: Which place do I prefer to be in? There are advantages to living in the city (everything within walking distance, and decent sidewalks to walk on). There are advantages to being at the church (quiet, no traffic, you can see the stars, and you can walk two minutes and see goats and horses). I have to split myself between two beautiful locations, and I don't know which I prefer.

It has finally dawned on me that I don't have to choose which I prefer. I have both options, and I can be happy in both places. I can be happy now and not have to wait until I'm in one place or the other. And that makes me very, very lucky. Of course, I've always known intellectually that happiness is something you carry with you regardless of circumstances or surroundings. Most of you are probably saying to yourselves, "Duh!" But somehow, lately I've just been understanding it on a deeper level.