Let’s Talk About It
Earlier on this forum, one of the things I asked you to do was to look at the things you used to do when you were younger and to about ways to incorporate — or to re-incorporate — a little bit of that back into your life.
Did you write short stories? Did you write poems? Did you compose music? Did you draw? Did you paint? Did you dance? Were you into photography? Were you into sports? What was it that held your interest when you were younger?
You do not have to pick every little thing you used to do. Just start with one. All through school, Kelli played tennis. She also enjoyed chorus and the drama club. She loved the physics and math clubs as well. Kelli decided to pick one thing to bring back into her life. It couldn’t be tennis, at least not yet. Kelli had been in a car accident a couple of years prior and, according to her physical therapist, was still recuperating. Due more to her extreme schedule, revolving around a busy family and her own work, chorus, and dramatic events were out. Kelli chose math. She did this for the reasons above, but she chose math for other reasons as well. Kelli had difficulty controlling her hands. She was not comfortable in group settings for more than a few minutes at a time. She wanted something that she could do, alone, on her own, that she could decide what she wanted when she wanted it, how she wanted to do it and when she was through with it.
Kelli started by doing some research online. She contacted a professor at the local college who gave her some suggestions as to some books to buy. Kelli chose to begin with a more remedial approach, to warm her up before she started to reach out to her real goals. Kelli worked out a chapter a week for nearly a year of what she called remedial mathematics, to get herself up to speed. She gave herself an hour a night, five days a week, to work through her refresher course. Then she started in on the larger equations.
One equation, one hour a night, this was Kelli’s goal. She did not need to complete the equation in that one hour. Often, she did not. The point for Kelli was that she was working on the equation. She was using her brain. She was concentrating. And, best of all, she was enjoying herself. That was the more important issue.
Some people knit to relax; Kelli works on complex mathematical equations.
What if you don’t have an hour a day to devote to something? Well, if it is truly important to you, you will make some time for whatever your goal is, whether it be this sort of goal that I am proposing here or some similar goal.
You can find, you can make, five minutes a day to do what you love to do. Are you stuck on a conference call? Then there is your time to doodle.
Are you sitting on the bus, riding to or from some destination? Look, there’s time for any sort of craft project you can do in your lap, including scrapbooking, drawing, knitting, sewing, and writing.
Are you sitting at the doctor’s office, waiting for your appointment to start? Then, you can do the same thing. You can write. You can draw. You can create anything that you can carry with you. You can outline that novel. You can scribble poems. You can sketch the nurse’s harried expression.
I love to find the little ‘mini-kits’ for various projects while surfing online. You can find a little kit for any purpose. Not to mention, you can make your own mini-kits based on what your purpose is.
Are you a writer? Then a sandwich baggie with index cards, pencils, or pens is a great thing. You can buy or make yourself a special wallet to carry with you everywhere so you are always ready to jot something down.
Are you an artist? A notebook with a pouch full of pencils can be a very useful thing. You can even create a pouch full of simple watercolors with brushes and whatever else you need. Take your pouch and a bottle of water for you to drink, as well as to use for your paints as needed, and there you go.
Do you knit or crochet? Then you can always carry a small project bag with you. Not only do I have friends who always have a project bag in their vehicle, as well as on their person, but that’s usually what I have too. I have a simple mindless knitting project, currently a garter stitch scarf that I am planning to donate once I finish it, in the car, in case I forget to take something out with me. With a garter stitch scarf, I never forget the pattern. If I don’t work on it for months at a time, there’s no harm and no foul. There’s no deadline for it. My friend Cathy always carries a sock project in her purse with her. My friend Ruth has a bag by her door to take with her everywhere. Ruth is a quilter. She takes pieces to either cut on a small cutting board she carries with her, or she bastes pieces together by hand while she’s out.
No matter what you do, there are ways to incorporate that practice into your day every day. All that is really required is an honest desire to incorporate that practice into your day. If your heart isn’t into it, no amount of cajoling or trying to force it will make you find the time for it.
Do you have to do something every single day? No. Here is another place where you can try incorporating your talent or your skill every other day, or even once a week. When you first start, I would suggest at least every week. If you are doing something once a month, or once every couple of months, you might want to explore some different something.
All you are doing with this is trying to reconnect with yourself. If everything you did as a kid no longer appeals to you, guess what…you can forget about it. If nothing you did in your past appeals to you, there is nothing stopping you from trying something new.
Did you always want to try throwing pottery? Surely you can find a class at a local community college or local store where you can go once in a while to try that out. If all else fails, pinch pots made of oven-baked or air-dried clays can work until you can afford to do something bigger, or more expensive.
If your old dreams and your old pastimes are no longer what you want out of life, find new dreams, and create new pastimes. This is about you, all about you, and finding out what you desire.
Spread out your wings and don’t be afraid to fly. You might fall, but you won’t hurt yourself by trying. If you don’t like one thing, try something else. Keep trying until you find that thing with which you really connect. That’s the important thing. Keep trying until the real you is expressing itself, happily.
Looking for more?
Come check out my blog:
Tabitha Low 