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Musings: to meditate, think, contemplate, deliberate, ponder, reflect, ruminate, reverie, daydream, introspection, dream, preoccupation, brood, cogitate.

Saturday, January 2, 2016

More or Less - January

The Way

Welcome to my new monthly feature: More or Less.  It replaces my View Outside My Window series.  This will still be my "conversation" post where I invite you to answer the question that's been on my mind.  But the photo will be from my photo library of photos that have something in common with each other and relates to my question in some way.  This month the photos are of paths. . . .

The one on the lower right was taken in our woods.  Making paths into our overgrown woods and then having the fallen trees removed has been a labor of love for us.  There's something about a path that speaks to me.  A path draws one towards something better and away from what can no longer be.  The rest are places I've visited.  Each one holds a special memory for me.  The upper left one was taken at Walden Pond in 2006.  The path leads from the site where Thoreau built his cabin down to the Pond.  My time there was an Experience and has stayed with me these 10 years!

I've been thinking about paths lately as the year was coming to a close, and I was thinking about the coming year and what changes I'd like to make on the path of my life.  I looked back at my January 2015 post on my goals for the new year.  Those who commented on that post may want to go back to read your list of goals for 2015 to see how you did!  I had five items on my list.  The only one I truly fulfilled was to learn to draw.  The other four were met with varying degrees of success.  As I thought about what I want to do this year I found myself thinking "more of this" or "less of that"--hence the title for this post series.

On my More List is to write more.  With that in mind I'm writing more on my daily Another Perfect Day 365 web journal.  You can check it out HERE if you want to sign up to receive notification of each day's post.  The link takes you to my introductory post.  You can get caught up by clicking on Newer Post at the end of each post.  Day 1  and Day 2 have been posted.  That web journal fits in with my goal to declutter more this year.  I realized I did not succeed at that last year because what I need to change is my mindset about my stuff.  Another Perfect Day 365 will hopefully do that because I will be reading quotes from St. Francis of Assisi and responding to what he's written.  He was known for his simplicity and humility.  Surely, by the end of the year some of his will have rubbed off on me!

Along that line I wanted to point out my various Web Journals in case you've never noticed them listed on the sidebar.  You can see when I last posted on a particular Journal.  "Freedom in Christ" was written as a Daily Devotional for one year.  I'm rereading it this year.  If you'd like to read it, too,  use the Archives in the sidebar to take you back to the beginning (January 1, 2011).

I plan to draw more, too.  I'll be doing a monthly post about that here on Morning Musings.

To exercise is on my More list.

Then there are the things I want to do less--like eat less sweets. Spend less time on the Internet (which is really hard when there is so much interesting stuff there!). . . .  I'm realizing I need to add Self-control to my More list!

The term "more or less" also means "to a certain extent."  I feel this is a good term to apply to life in general.  It's a term used to express "vagueness or uncertainty."  As I pose my questions each month, I hope we will explore the "both sides" to any topic of discussion.  If you have a different point of view from mine or another commenter, please do share it.  There are always extenuating circumstances.  Two sides to a coin.  And besides, things can change in a moment!  Who knows, you may change someone's point of view just by stating yours.

So, the question this month is:  When you get to the end of 2016 what will you wish you'd done more of?  Less of?

Sarah Ban Breathnach, in today's entry for Simple Abundance, asks the question this way:  "What if you knew that a year from today you could be living the most creative, joyous, and fulfilling life you could image?  What would it be?  What changes would you make?  How and where would you begin?"

Here is another perspective on More and/or Less. . . .

                        

.•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•
Take Joy!


12 comments:

  1. Well, I've never been big on New Year's resolutions myself. I don't usually approach the end of one year with a list of plans for the next one, at last not in much detail. I guess I've never been someone with a view for "life plans and goals" Overall I find that when I want to do more of something, or less, or decide to add, eliminate or improve something in my life, I usually just start as soon as I can. However I do have a general wish for this year - to try and live "greener." I want to reduce my own carbon footprint significantly, find natural, non-toxic, organic ways to run my house and to eat even more healthily than I do now. 🍋

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    1. Janet, I think the things we are passionate about we generally get going on right away. It's the things we've been dragging our feet on that usually end up becoming "resolutions" and the New Year seems to be the agreed-upon time to declare that our intentions.

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  2. Yes, I'm sure you're right about that one, Cathy - at least for a lot of people. I suppose having a start date is good psychological preparation when there's "unpleasant work ahead." But I don't think I've ever really done the traditional Jan 1 resolution deal myself. I've made plans, and definitely procrastinated - no doubt about that. If anything, Labor Day seems more like the beginning of the year to me - must be the perennial student, then teacher, in me. I have made plans to start lots of projects and initiatives etc once we "get back to school." Yep, that must be it for me. ⭐️

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    1. Up until 6 years ago September always felt like the beginning of the new year for me to because until then I'd had children going off to school or college. I recently read where someone considered their birthday the start of their new year. I think that's a great idea, only mine comes at the beginning of the Christmas season and I have no time to focus on myself during that month! So January 1st is what works for me now. Part of it is also the transition of having my house different for a whole month (with the tree and decorations) and then putting it back to normal, but always rearranging the furniture to suit us rather than guests. Then there's the new calendars and filing away of last year's files like correspondence and journals. It truly feels like I'm starting fresh and that gives me just the boost I need to start some different habits.

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  3. Well that was fun. Looking back on what I wrote in January 2015. Patience...I guess I am still working on that one!! And probably will for a lifetime.......not my strong suit! Although I must admit I am more patient now than when I was younger. I just finished reading Dawn's post over at Petals. Paper. simple Thymes and she has been picking a word each New Year to focus on. Obviously, your word this year is "paths". My first thought was once again patience, but that is getting old and obviously not working!! So I am going with breathe! I think I can do THAT!
    So here is my list of what I hope to spend more time doing: working with Molly to become a therapy dog, spending more time outside!, walking, more time to read, finishing my herb bed that has been under construction for 3or 4 years! and counting my blessings and remembering to breathe! What I hope to spend less time doing: mindless eating, staying indoors because the weather doesn't quite suit me, being impatient with Jim.
    I think that is all I can handle this year.
    I think I love the new year because it stretches out there, full of promise and possibilities. Here we go.....
    Chris in W Texas

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    1. Chris, I read somewhere that you shouldn't ask for patience or you'll get lots of opportunities to practice it! Patience is not my strong suit, either. Instead, I'm looking at why I get impatient sometimes and what I can do about THAT. It's different for different situations, so one size does not fit all when it comes to patience. I like your word for the year. BREATHE. I think that has been my unconscious word for a few years now because this past year I finally started noticing the times I need to step back and just breathe. For me it came when I started going outside more--never mind the weather (as long as it wasn't freezing cold or pouring rain). I let Gabriel out in our open area off leash while I pick up sticks. We both get exercise and I find myself really breathing deeply. I think that's the goal you should make sure you meet every day if at all possible. Here we go, indeed!

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  4. Cathy, I think this year I want to spend MORE time delving into projects that I have been thinking about doing for a long time. Having our grandson living with us for over a year now, I know what to expect and can now relax and get on with those projects. Winter is the perfect time to spend persuing these goals. I tend to put others before myself and I want to be kinder to myself in that area. ♥

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    1. Yes, Martha Ellen, it's all about balance In order to give you must have something to give, which means we need to tend to our own needs, too. I'm eager to find out what your projects are that you want to pursue.

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  5. It was so interesting to see an image from near to Walden Pond. Do you have any of the pond. I found Thoreau book so interesting! The video made me smile as a child the only programme we could get in English in Germany was Sesame street. I would like to reduce my time using the computer and be more decisive this year. Sarah x

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    1. Sarah, click on Henry David Thoreau in my Archives on the sidebar and you can read about my visit there with more photos. And "more decisive this year" sounds full of intrigue! Dare I ask what you want to be more decisive about? ☺︎

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  6. I read this earlier and now am back. I think your question is a backwards way of asking what a goal might be for the coming year. I am sure I would say I'd wish I'd read more books as I always wish that. The older I get I find it harder to settle down to read a whole book, but I love to. And I probably would not wish I had spent more time on the computer, so let's say I'd wish for less time on that. But that is a hard one since my work is on the computer, and while on, it's tempting to jump to something else for a bit. I am interested in small reachable goals, being less of a control freak, in other words, living life with an open hand and more grace to "roll with the punches." That's my thoughts for today …. I love your thought-provoking, inspiring posts!

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    1. Hi Dotsie. Just got back a little while go from taking our son's car to him at the airport. It was closer for him to go home from there than to come back here to get his car. The only thing they saw a bit disconcerting was the traffic police at the airport in Munich carried M-16s! As for your goals concerning the computer that really is a tough one especially if you're on Facebook. I don't follow all my friends just because it'd be too many posts to go through to find something I'm interested in. If you "like" something on Facebook, then it gets posted on all your friends' newsfeed. My conclusion is the only way to deal with it is to set a time limit on how long and how often you go to the computer for something other than work, then apply a lot of self-control! I think living life with an open hand is another good goal. I read where someone never says "no" immediately to things, but instead says "let me think about it" when they're asked to do something. I think we do need to pick and choose how we spend our time, but be open to new and different things.

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