practical and meaningful

my one and only

I always  wanted only one . After she was born, my husband and I would talk about it and we were both good with one. Twelve years later and I know it was the right decision for us. 

I truly believe that having more kids was not my path to more happiness. I love my one and I have never regretted not having more children. I love each new phase and I welcome her growing up. She is pretty good at it.

Of course I worry about all the normal stuff. Will she be a good person? Will she find her way in the world? Is she  lonely? So far, so good. She likes to share. She has good friends. She is close to both of us. She seems to be compatible with life.

I am grateful for the parts of life that favor a smaller family -ease with travel, saving for college, quality time, organization, and simplicity.

It is a personal choice - a deep knowing  in your bones of what is right for you.  I love my one and only and I know it was right for us.

 

 

 

 

food porn

photographer + foodie = food porn

being in deep

We value the parts of our lives that we have invested in - with our time, our selves, and our money.

And yet, time moves so quickly that it is hard to keep up and keep everything pretty and stay in love with what used to move you, and to enjoy all that you have.

This feeling has been bearing down on me of late - a sense of inability to do it all and a deeper inability to appreciate it all.

I walk around my full life and see only the things that need cleaning or fixing. I find it hard to step back from all that I have to do to appreciate what I have done. I just keep going and doing because I am in deep. 

A perfect example is my patio garden that falters between pathetic and thriving.  I can never quite get the flow of creating it and maintaining it.  I seem to keep repeating this cycle of paying attention to it only to let it fall to the wayside when I get busy. I want to keep it going and thriving because I love it and I chose it. Instead, I keep investing in plants, refinishing the furniture and not spending any quality time out there.

If I am not enjoying it, and it adds to my work load, is it serving me? 

I do the work to keep it going, but keep forgetting to enjoy it in between. That is not very practical or meaningful.

 

practical love

‘There is nothing more practical than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.’ Rev Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ