If you're going to do something, you might as well make sure it fulfills many purposes, I figure. Take digging up the weedy corner of garden near the rhubarb, which I did yesterday.
Obviously, I dug up and disposed of the weeds. But I was also doing the following things:
1) Preparing the area for planting lettuce and spinach. Which I did after the digging.
2) Exercising. Better than running on a damn treadmill.
3) Communing with nature. I found myself talking back to the black-capped chickadees: "Hey sweetie sweetie sweetie." That's what they say, you know. So I replied in kind. Not that I would admit to doing such a thing. (Except, uh, I just did.)
4) Serving others. I collected the bigger worms I dug up for A.'s fishing stash. Always thinking of others, that's me.
5) Relaxing. Because both kids were asleep, so there was no monitoring of a destructive child with a shovel or a baby who keeps dropping his chew carrot. That counts as relaxing for me.
6) Taking time for myself. I detest (DETEST) the phrase "me time," but that's what it was. No kids. No talking. No listening and answering questions and reprimanding and explaining and chasing. Just digging.
Of course, there were many things I was NOT getting done in favor of digging in the dirt--boring things like washing dishes or cleaning the bathtub--but we'll just focus on the positives. Look at all I got done in that half hour! I'm a machine.
It is amazing how relaxing it is just to be alone sometimes. I love my family, and being with them - and they are great about it when i wander off. But I hear you on the just working alone thing.
ReplyDelete-moi
My family calls it "Playing in the dirt." They tease, but not too much. They know how satisfying it feels to work in the garden.
ReplyDelete