Saturday, February 4, 2012

Great minds (and all that)

It's been a while since I've been writing on a regular basis (in any form other than reports for work) and I'm finding that it's taking a bit to find my rhythm again, to feel the flow of putting what's in my brain into words. I've had a few different posts marinating in the soup of my brain since I started blogging again, on various topics, and the one I keep coming back to is about how I'm defining my priorities, how I'm becoming more and more clear on what's most important to me. But I'm struggling to put that into a logical, thoughtfully written piece, and so I continue to ponder the subject. Then today, I came across a post that says pretty much *exactly* what it is I've been thinking

Do you ever come across a completely random, total stranger in cyerspace who seems to have managed to get into your brain and put into words what's been swimming around in there?? I've had that happen on quite a few occasions, and in particular twice in the last 24 hours. Today as I was thinking about writing this post, I was browsing some of my regular blogs, and I came across this post by Trent at The Simple Dollar. Trent writes:

'So, what is it that’s truly important to you? There is no right or wrong answer. It’s a matter of simply figuring out what’s truly important to you.'

He also says

'First and foremost, my family (and I consider my closest friends a part of that) is the single most important thing in my life. Bar none. Secondary to that is learning new things and, hand in hand with that, sharing what I’ve learned.

Almost every other interest and passion I have in my life is secondary to those things.'

I read that part of his post, and it was like the fog in my brain lifted - I could finally articulate clearly what it was that had seemed just out of my grasp of clarity, it was like Trent had put into words what I've always known in my heart. The importance of my family (and yes, that does include my closest friends!) is the foundation of my life, and everything comes as secondary to that. And like Trent, my need to learn and share knowledge is secondary to my family. After my faith in God, those two things form the basis of the foundation of my life, and everything that's important to me comes under either of those categories. I feel like I'm copying Trent to a degree as I write this, but his post just made everything so clear to me, and I can 'feel' everything falling into place in my head now that I've identified those priorities. A couple of weeks ago I had atarted drafting a post on this subject, and as I listed what's important to me, and what I want to focus on on this blog, I kept thinking 'but ultimately, these all relate back to my family, it's like they really come under one topic heading', and that was because they did!

I'm hoping now that with some clarity and some more clear direction in my mind, the writing will come more easily, and I'll get back into the swing of it. As I've said before, being intentional is my 'theme' this year, putting intentional practices in place and considering everything I do, not just living by reacting to life and situations. I haven't got this blog figured out yet, I'm finding that's coming with time, and as I see what it is I admire in my favourite blogs, why they resonate with me. I'm very mindful of not just copying what someone else does, but being inspired by what catches my attention and impacts me. I am a creature of habit, and I do like some form of structure, hence my Photo Finish Friday posts, I think there will be some more topics/themes with a regular posting day - being intentional about those topics, and being accountable!!

On that note, the other 'great minds think alike' moment I had was Jeannett from Life Rearranged's post on Simple Mom yesterday - I discovered that Jeannett has been blogging about her progress through One Bite At a Time (the e-book which I've previously written about), and I *so* related to her comment -

'One of the problems I have when I read any kind of “simplify life” articles or books is that I end up skimming through it and thinking, “Yeah, that’s a really good idea. I should totally do that.”

And then I don’t.

I mean, I know I should… But taking that extra step and being intentional about it is a whole different beast.'

Snap!!! Again, another writer that seemed to have gotten into my head and put into words what I've been thinking. I find that happens a lot when I read Jeannett's blog! I love her encouragement to jump in and 'play along' in this journey, and that's something I love about blogging - that it links us through our interests, through what's in our hearts, and we can make new connections and build new relationships by sharing what we learn and what we love. I think that's why I am motivated to continue blogging at this time in my life - I know there aren't a whole lot of people reading wht I write, but it's a place I can come and record my journey, and it feels like I'm connecting with those on similar paths to mine, that we're sharing a commonalities along the way.

So as I muddle my way through this blogging thing, I hope to share what's on my mind and in my heart, and to continue finding my way in this crazy little thing called life!

No comments:

Post a Comment