Musings after Sunset

I definitely have a good time to write and a less-than-good time to write. 

Earlier, rather than later, is better for me. 

But today I was having such a great day, I saved the writing for the late evening. It's not quite nighttime. The sun has just gone down and the sky is darkening. Bed calls. 

And, yet, I've committed to writing every day.

I need to think about this because there are days that I'm busy with work and other things, and it could be easy to get to the end of the day and decide I'm too tired to write. 

What a great love lesson this is. 

How do we take care of ourselves and schedule our days so that we are able to do the things that are most alive for us?

My problem today was that I spent the whole day doing all kinds of things that were life-giving for me. What a great problem to have. I'm laughing at myself as I write. May all my days be so afflicted. 

The sun was shining. Big, puffy white clouds moved across blue skies. It was in the mid-70s and not muggy at all. And after a weather forecast that suggested a fourth consecutive week of cloud and rain, this was a magnificent surprise. I woke up without a headache. That's a rare treat these days. I was craving chicken soup and had the ingredients to make it. I was craving a great salad and had the ingredients to make that also. I love to cook so that was really fun. And the house smelled great. 

I spent the morning doing research and listening to podcasts. I love to learn and enjoy doing research about something I care about. Actually, I was researching self-love. I was curious about what people had to say about it. It was just a preliminary study, but a week ago I probably would have rolled my eyes reading these articles. I haven't talked about that yet. My subtle suspicion around the whole topic of self-love. I'll get to it someday, but a preview would be something like -- once upon a time, talking about self-love, images of Stuart Smalley would come to mind. And I might have judged the whole topic to be "hokey."

Maybe I had a little shadow energy tied up in my reactions.

The day continued with a trip to my fabulous hair stylist. He works his magic and I always feel beautiful when he's done with me. I also feel ready to take on the world. The conversation is worth the trip any day and I miss the days when my hair was very short and I saw him once a month. Today we cut off about six inches and I am feeling lighter. It's great to shed what is no longer working.

I hope I can take that wisdom into my de-cluttering projects at home. So far, it's been off and on. Truth be told, I've gotten rid of so much stuff I'm surprised I still have anything left. And that may be why these remaining projects are so difficult. It's all the stuff I think I can't live without. I can feel my body tightening up as I type. And I'm telling myself to relax because there is not a box or black trash bag in sight. I'm just writing. 

Just writing.

The Summer of Self-Love is a daily writing practice birthed on June 1, 2018 as a container for harvesting three months for thriving. The goal at the end is to host a dinner party. Sounds like an odd Hero's Journey, doesn't it? Most of them usually are.