I haven’t felt much like writing lately as I’ve been feeling kind of blah and uninspired. I’m sure it’s a combination of many things: I’ve been a little bit under the weather, but not sick. Sophie came down with strep throat. The state of our country has made me way more anxious than I expected. People on Facebook were nasty and unaccepting, on both sides of the fence. It’s been a little too cold to run outside. The sun won’t come out until after 8 a.m., which makes it REALLY hard for this Night Owl to function in the morning. And maybe this sounds like a “no duh” statement, but I had no idea how much I relied on the sun to get me going in the morning. Or maybe just operating in pitch black is the tough part. Everyone says this is typical January. And I’m hoping that’s the case.
Every weekend, I have a tradition where I sleep in and then spend the morning sipping coffee and reading all the blog posts I’ve saved in my Feedly reader from the past week. One of my favorite bloggers, Anne from Modern Mrs. Darcy, published an interesting post called “What’s Saving Your Life Right Now?” She explained the concept comes from author Barbara Brown Taylor. In her memoir Leaving Church, Taylor tells about a time she was invited to speak, and her host assigned her this topic: “Tell us what is saving your life right now.”
The idea behind this prompt is most of us know what’s bothering us and can articulate all those things pretty clearly (see above paragraph as proof). But, she says, few of us stop to note what’s giving us life. What are these things — whether little or big — that are helping us live our lives?
I needed this prompt right now. So I decided to join Anne in listing what’s saving my life today. Some of these things may seem obvious, others probably insignificant, and some are rituals that I look forward to each week. So today — on February 2, the halfway point of winter — here is what’s saving me right now:
What’s Saving My Life Right Now
- My family, of course
- Discovering new places in Indiana
- The visualization of winter — bare trees, cold days, wearing my puffy jacket and hat — all the things San Diego didn’t have
- Soft falling snow
- Painting + Pie classes (canvas painting but with pie, not wine)
- Watching some great television with the family room fireplace ablaze
- “Homeland” is back 🙂
- My music mixes on Spotify
- Blue Apron dinners
- Writing nightly in my “one line a day” journal
- Running
- Pictures of my niece and nephews
- Texting my sisters
- Well-written articles with valuable insights such as this one.
- Knowing that I’m not alone in how I feel about the state of our country right now
- Two awesome podcasts: Happier with Gretchen Rubin and The West Wing Weekly
- The feeling of possibility with respect to several articles I want to write and projects to do
- Recently meeting Elizabeth Smart and listening to her share her brave and inspiring story
- Knowing that spring is only a few short months away
Want to join me in this challenge? Tell me what’s saving your life right now. Or better yet, make your own list!
Other Posts You May Like:
- The Ways to Be Happy
- Live Lobsters and Hail: The Simple Things in Life
- Election Thoughts: Choosing Hope, Not Hate
- 19 Life Goals from 19 Years Ago