People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within. ― Ursula K. Le Guin
Phix's Curiosity: what sparks my interest
Watch this space to see what's sparked my interest this week. A random grab bag of delights!
This week I've been thinking about intention. As in 'to do something with intention.' I sat in on a lovely class this past weekend where we talked about setting intentions, and we had this realization that people tend to confuse intention and expectation. The difference is intention is done with discernment (this is the process I will mindfully apply), while expectation entails judgment and outcome-focused (did I get the thing I wanted). I think a lot of people confuse the two. So I've been sitting with that thought and turning it over and around in my head.
We also talked about how creating space in which to do things requires saying 'no' to some other things - or as one participant mentioned, it's not really so much that you're saying no to all the things pressing in on your time as it is that you're saying "YES!" to the creation of the time and space you're wanting in your life. I think that's really important to remember. We're making choices all day every day, and we're responsible for the choices we make. The process of making choices means that we have to make a yes/no call - why not make it what you need in your world?
Medusa's Garden
When you need every one and everything around you to just stop.
It was a week like I haven't had in a while this week. I am at the tail end of 4x10 hour days - intentionally. It means I can take tomorrow off without using one of my scarce vacation days (more about that next week!). In the short term, it means days felt accomplished because I had an extra two hours at work in which to get things done which yay! It also means I feel like I got some stuff done in the quiet of not being interrupted a bunch after everyone else had gone home. So, back to intention and saying yes to creating focus space in which to work on priorities, that would be a very good thing....
On the other, it's really pushing my 'ooh, remember burnout!?' buttons. So. I'm glad I did it and I'd do it again for something like this, but wow, I am really not interested in letting work stuff slide to this being a regular occurrence. On the sort of upside, as a contractor at the moment, I'm on a contract that's 40 hours, no overtime, so, that's actually been (mostly) good for my self-discipline.
Ariadne's Yarn: playing with threads
What I'm up to with fiber and possibly how mythology and stories all tie together.
Knitty-knitty. I'm still looking for a pattern for my red and black yarn that goes with my family's red and black flannel shirts....Time to hit up Ravelry. My weaving project is moving along, a little slower than I'd thought it might but, as it goes! No particularly good pictures of progress this time, alas!
Mythic Librarian: the art of arranging a life
Thoughts on ontology and ways to organize a life.
So coming back to intention - using intention to say yes to creating the spaces in one's life - for each thing a place. Time's going to pass regardless but it's like snails and turtles - they move surprisingly quickly. You turn away for a moment and when you turn back, they are not where you expect them. They're focused on what they're doing and where they're going and one foot in front of the other, bit by bit, off they go! Moving slowly, with intention, will get you where you're going much more quickly than moving quickly, flailing about and ineffectively every time.
With love, and structure, and organization, and curiosity - may Ariadne's ball of yarn guide you through the labyrinth safely until next time!
--Susan