Wearing: A Twinkling Paisley

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you.
--Annie Dillard

I'm not a still person. It's a challenge for me to slow down--to turn off the music and listen to nothing but my thoughts. I have a hard time taking a thirty minute walk around the block without my cell phone. It's an effort to enjoy the silence....to go outside, get comfortable on the ground and just watch the sky go by.

With three children around, I'm surrounded by constant motion, unending enthusiasm for action. Occasionally, when I force myself to be still, I can better appreciate the movement. I take the time to look through my old photo albums, remembering where I've been and what I've done there or pull out my favorite hardback and pour through it again, getting reacquainted with favorite characters like they were old friends.

(BR dress worn as shirt, Anthro In a Twinkling dress, LOFT belt, Anthropologie Renssalaer pumps)

More often than not, I find ways to de-stress that include my children. We'll enjoy a breakfast of cereal by candlelight or rustle the pages of a good book before bedtime or take bike rides in the warm, afternoon sun or buy a box of chocolates and eat all our favorite ones first.

Whether resting or at play, I want to be dedicated to these moments which will float away all too quickly. I never want to be the girl who spends her life feeling that real life is about to begin. D'Souza said,

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

So no, I'm not a still person. It's a challenge for me to slow down...to turn off the music and listen to nothing but my thoughts. But when I do, what I find inside is always the same. I want to live each day like it is the best day ever.


PS. What's your favorite "do nothing" past-time?

8 comments:

  1. I LOVE to read! Haven't in a while, but this past weekend I started reading The Help and it is fantastic! I forgot how much I do truly love to read!! Can't wait to see the movie!!!
    http://www.cathykhayes.blogspot.com

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  2. Reading blogs and looking around on Pinterest while enjoying a warm mug of coffee!

    http://lizlovesclothes.blogspot.com

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  3. i LOVE paisley! super cute outfit chick! great blog!

    love, rach.
    www.so--hi.blogspot.com

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  4. Honestly the last few weeks my favorite thing to do with down time is read through archives of my favorite blogs-yours is one of my new favorites! I am a mother of three young kids too and have recently started wearing my "real" clothes doing things we do every day...a huge shift from wearing grubby clothes until we went somewhere. It changes my mood in a good way to feel girly and pretty while being a momma. Strange that so many women fight through this, don't you think? It's like we save clothes for an occasion rather than living our daily lives as if the everyday is not one. I'm turning away from that mindset :) I reallu enjoy your blog!

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  5. LOVE those shoes!
    And that second to last photo -it's perfect!

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  6. Amazing images!!! I love to read when given a chance. Or to sit on my swing and just enjoy looking at the garden with the breeze in my hair.

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  7. I really enjoy reading, especially now that I have a Nook and can download books instantly from the library. I'm like a kid in a candy store (a kid who gets candy for free, that is). I also really enjoy knitting, which is the most soothing hobby I practice. There is something extremely calming about the click-clack of needles, and about making things one stitch at a time.

    Great question!

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  8. I love how you styled this especially with the blouse.

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