The Art of Boredom - Part 2 (Boredom Series)

I'll admit . . . I get bored frequently. I have time to get bored. I really do. I'm a simple mom. I don't have a list of "to do's" because it'd be empty. My "to do's" are things like, "get up in the morning, make breakfast, take a shower, etc." Once in a while I run to the grocery store or take the kids on a little field trip. But most of my filler is spent on "down time." I've realized in my life that "must do's" are just that - I must do these things in order to survive - eating, sleeping, etc. Every thing else is optional.

And I'm happy this way. On days when I am running around I get a little crazy. Or a lot crazy. I need my down time and replenishing/recuperating time like I need to eat, like I need to sleep.

I remember going to girls' camp when I was a youth and every single minute was accounted for with some mindless (and yes, it was mindless!) activity. I hated it. Loathed it. Detested it. I couldn't get one minute where I could just sit and reflect and put into perspective all that was going on around me. I wanted to stop and take in nature. I wanted to stop and smell the roses. Instead, we were herded along as quickly as possible to the next activity. "But what about the journey?" I thought. I thought it was about the journey, not the destination.

I understand that most people aren't like me. But I think that there are a few out there.

What do you do when you are bored? How about your children? Do you reach for the remote? Turn on the radio? Pick up the phone? Create errands to run? Perhaps you don't feel like you are ever bored. Instead you are always on the run . . . always doing something.

Sit still for a minute. Sit still for five minutes. Let your mind go where it wants. Are you bored yet? Yes? Good . . . keep going. Sit still for longer than that. Just be.

How are we to listen to our inner self and inspiration and revelation from above when we are being bombarded by "to do" lists, when the TV is distracting us, when the radio is talking to us, when we are running errand after errand taking the children in and out of the car? When do our children learn to listen to their inner selves when they are being herded here and there and being rushed? When is there ever a moment that we can all just be still and be open to the promptings of Deity? Would our children even recognize the sound of inspiration and revelation or is everything around them too noisy and busy?

There is a place for boredom. It doesn't have to mean not being productive. Productivity cannot happen all of the time. Everything has its antithesis. Boredom is the antithesis of productivity - but they both have an important and vital role. Perhaps all along we thought we were being productive and busy and never took a moment to just be. But perhaps by not taking that moment to just be, we never were blessed with some sort of inspiration that would make our lives richer and fuller and even more productive. Being bored, or as I like to call it - having down time, is a rejuvenator and opens our minds to things that we missed previously due to our busy-ness and the distractions around us.

This is my challenge: Become one with the art of boredom. Be bored! I dare you!!

The Argument for Boredom - Part 1

I decided to break my thoughts down into a few parts. I'll start with this small article I came across in the Reader's Digest:

The Benefits of Boredom

Boredom's doldrums were unavoidable, yet also a primordial soup for some of life's most quintessentially human moments . . . . A long drive home after a frustrating day could force ruminations. A pang of homesickness at the start of a plane ride might put a journey in perspective.

"Increasingly, these empty moments are being saturated with productivity, communication, and the digital distractions offered by an ever-expanding array of slick mobile devices . . .

"But are we too busy twirling through the songs o n our iPods -- while checking email, while changing lanes on the highway -- to consider whether we are giving up a good thing? We are most human when we feel dull. Lolling around in a state of restlessness is one of life's greatest luxuries -- one not available to creatures that spend all their time pursuing mere survival.

To be bored is to stop reacting to the external world, and to explore the internal one.

It is in these times of reflection that people often discover something new, whether it is an epiphany about a relationship or a new theory about the way the universe works. Granted, many people emerge from boredom feeling that they have accomplished nothing. But is accomplishment really the point of life? There is a strong argument that boredom -- so often parodied as a glassy-eyed drooling state of nothingness -- is an essential human emotion that underlies art, literature, philosophy, science, and even love."

"The Joy of Boredom," by Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Boston Globe taken from Reader's Digest, June 2008

An Old-Fashioned Christmas

My mother used to read the Little House on the Prairie books when I was younger. I was always in awe of their simple and wonderful Christmases:

Something was shining bright in the top of Laura's stocking. She squealed and jumped out of bed. So did Mary, but Laura beat her to the fireplace. And the shining thing was a glittering new tin cup. Mary had one exactly like it.

These new tin cups were their very own. Now they each had a cup to drink out of. Laura jumped up and down and shouted and laughed, but Mary stood still and looked with shining eyes at her own tin cup.

Then they plunged their hands into the stockings again. And they pulled out two long, long sticks of candy. It was peppermint candy, striped red and white. They looked and looked at the beautiful candy, and Laura licked her stick, just one lick. But Mary was not so greedy. She didn't take even one lick of her stick.

Those stockings weren't empty yet. Mary and Laura pulled out two small packages. They unwrapped them, and each found a little heart-shaped cake. Over their delicate brown tops was sprinkled white sugar. The sparkling grains lay like tiny drifts of snow.

The cakes were too pretty to eat. Mary and Laura just looked at them. But at last Laura turned hers over, and she nibbled a tine nibble from underneath, where it wouldn't show. And the inside of the little cake was white!
It had been made of pure white flour, and sweetened with white sugar.

Laura and Mary never would have looked in their stockings again. The cups and the cakes and the candy were almost too much. They were too happy to speak. But Ma asked if they were sure the stockings were empty.
Then they put their hands down inside them, to make sure. And in the very toe of each stocking was a shining bright, new penny!

They had never even thought of such a thing as having a penny. Think of having a whole penny for your very own. Think of having a cup and a cake and a stick of candy and a penny.

There never had been such a Christmas. ~Little House on the Prairie 1935

So, it was with these Christmases in mind that we decided to have our very own old-fashioned Christmas (in July!).

Throughout the week leading up to our Christmas, we made decorations for a small tree using items from nature. We painted pine cones and rolled them in glitter. We found small skinny sticks, painted them and rolled those in glitter as well. These were to be our icicles. My mother lovingly made a popcorn string. We made a star out of tin foil.

Colt making ornaments:

My mom making a popcorn string:

We each drew names to exchange gifts. The gifts were to be homemade or something that you had that you thought someone else might like. I spent time with each of the children working on their gifts to each other. There were a lot of secrets! My mother made welsh cookies for the children's stockings.

On "Christmas" Eve we had a big dinner. My parents had a turkey in their freezer, so we cooked that up. We also had some mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce. My mom made two blueberry pies using the wild blueberries we had picked earlier in the week.

Proof of the pie:

After dinner, we decorated the tree while listening to Christmas carols on the record player (yes, record player). We danced and had so much fun!


Before bed, the children hung their stockings (we came across some gift bags in the shape of stockings with the gift wrap).


The next morning we all waited patiently until every one had awoken and then down the stairs we went! The children opened their stockings to find that they each got two welsh cookies in their stockings. Carena and Colt each got a small puzzle. Jonathan got a coloring book. They were thrilled!

Carena had drawn Colt's name to give a gift to. She made him a beautiful door hanging that says, "love" on it. She made it using a yarn weaving technique I had taught her. She also made him some chocolate covered pretzels.


Colt drew Carena's name. He made her a shell necklace and bracelet. He also gave her a sachet filled with lavender.


Jonathan drew my mother's name. I helped him trace his hands. We then cut them out and glued them to popsicle sticks and put them in a small terra cotta pot. We attached a label to it that read, "A hug for Marmy."

My mom drew Jonathan's name. She made him a beautiful shaker using a paper towel roll, filled with rice. She covered the entire thing with some faux suede and even added fringe!


I drew my father's name. I printed out a picture of myself with the children and attached that to a popsicle stick and put that in a terra cotta pot. I also made him some chocolate covered pretzels.

My dad gave me a small appliance that they were no longer in need of, but one that I wanted!

After gift opening, I made some blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

All in all, we spent exactly $0.00 on our old-fashioned Christmas. The memories, however, are priceless.

Heading Home

Well, the time has come. We are leaving for Arizona on Tuesday and will arrive sometime Tuesday night. We are sad to leave. It's been a wonderful summer filled with memories. We will miss the trees, the sweet smelling ferns, the green grass, the occasional thunderstorm and mostly, my parents. But, it's time to get my little family back together again. We miss Chris terribly.

Back to reality, here we come!

Book Recommendation

I recently finished this book (in a day!) and I loved it. Thought I'd pass it on to you all.

Synopsis

Do we love across time? Or in spite of it? A developer has slated an ancient Abenaki Indian burial ground for a strip mall, and now strange happenings have tiny Comtosook, Vermont, talking of supernatural forces at work. Ross Wakeman is a ghost hunter who's never seen a ghost-all he's searching for is something to end the pain of losing his fiance Aimee in a car accident. He tried suicide-any number of times. Now Ross lives only for a way to connect with Aimee from beyond. Searching the site for signs of the paranormal, Ross meets the mysterious Lia, who sparks him to life for the first time in years. But the discoveries that await Ross are beyond anything he could dream of in this world-or the next. Expertly entwining a powerful drama of the heart's redemption and the disturbing real-life history of the VT eugenics project of the 1930s, Second Glance asks if truth is always something that can be measured… and if what can be measured is indeed always true. http://www.jodipicoult.com/second-glance.html

Jonathan is Two!

Jonathan celebrated the big 02 a few days ago! I have a lot to say about this little guy but not enough words, or the right words to give justice to what a special phenomenal guy he is.

I AM REESE WITHERSPOON!

So, I thought I'd give it another go. But this time I decided to use a fairly hideous picture of myself. Check out my frizzy clown hair. NICE. Oh, and that gap between my two front teeth (that I'm actually quite self-conscious about but too poor to get fixed) . . . ANYWAY, here it is. Joe Pesci - you can go jump in a lake. Reese Witherspoon and I are going to go out and buy matching outfits right now.

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family photos - Geneology

4th of July - Redneck Style

Nothing quite says Happy Independence Day like a good parade. It's podunk-ville out here. Really. There is one stop sign in the town (I don't even know if it's even a town) and be careful not to blink as you're driving through or you might just miss the town! But, these residents can put on a parade. It's been classified the "Redneck Parade." And for good reason.

Maybe I should explain - this area - Northeast Pennsylvania, to be exact, has been known (infamously?) for its redneck-tendencies. I went to a high school that had a rifle team. That required students to bring guns to school. Also, since so many people hunted we were given the Monday after Thanksgiving off of school (beginning of deer season, doncha know?). A good time meant four-wheelin' up Campbell's Ledge or just four-wheelin' anywhere. I took auto shop in high school.

But it's more than that. I grew up with friends who volunteered at the fire companies. There are only volunteer fire companies around here. That means they don't get paid to run into burning buildings. It also means that when I was out with friends that were volunteers at any time they could get a call that required them to just up and leave to do a variety of duties - EMT, ambulance driver, fire fighter, etc. Often they'd get called out in the middle of the workday and they'd have to leave then and there and miss out on part of their paycheck because they were out saving lives. These are the people I grew up with. This is why I love this area and these people.

Anyway - I just wanted to say that there's just this whole culture and attitude out here. It's hard to describe. Redneck, perhaps. Hicks, sure. But really, just great people willing to risk it all for their neighbors.

So, on the 4th of July this little community puts on a Redneck Parade. The kids, my parents and I rode down to the end of the driveway on the Mule, put the flag up and waited anxiously for the parade to approach.

The parade starts!

Notice the guy on the jeep - shirtless, holding a gun. Does it get any more redneck than that? Actually, it does. Just before this video I took some video (that's poor quality so I won't be posting it) of someone driving a float that was passing a beer back to someone else. Plus, there was one float made entirely of Bud Lite cans.

There's a New Face in Town

A few nights ago I went upstairs to check on the kids after I had tucked them in. Instead of silence, I was met with fits and fits of giggles. Carena and Colt had taught Jonathan how to make funny faces. He loves making Carena and Colt laugh. And they love making him laugh. And I love hearing them all laugh.