A Sprout of Green!

I'm trying hard not to get too excited about the spotting of a green shoot -- probably a daffodil or paperwhite. Maybe a hyacinth! After my "Unsupported Personality" issues (previous post), this is a sign.

As our snow is slowly receding under the sky of a comparatively warm day (we are above freezing), we are beginning to see brown grass and dirt. And a wee bit of green poking its head out of the lawn. We are seeing the beginning of spring. Or so we choose to think.

I am reminded that Daylight Savings Time begins on March 9 (which is today). This means that unless we have a snow or ice, Rick will be on the bike with his gang after work every Tuesday. The Tuesday Night Ride is sacred. 

The other night Rick and his musician friend Byron got together -- as they do weekly -- to play flute/guitar duets. Rick is dedicated in the art of practice and the music they made was indeed lovely. 

 

Things like that don't just happen. Whether it's riding his bike, playing the guitar or building his business, Rick is tremendously disciplined. And he seems to have boundless energy. Sure, he'll have a down day like everyone else. But he pushes through it. And he usually comes out on top.

I was thinking about this as I looked at this mess I call the art room, some piles in the family room that need attention and too many things that need sorting or purging. Then, instead of taking ten or fifteen minutes to organize at least one shelf or toss out that old stuff, I do a blog post about being undisciplined. (I may be smiling, but look at the rat's nest behind me!)

I'm OK with that in some ways. Like so many of you who are working outside the home (or even in the home, for that matter), by the time the end of the day rolls around, dinner is done and Lizzie is fed, it is dark and I'm ready to shut down and snug up with the glowing screen of my laptop, followed by a good book or a favorite show on the telly. I don't have it in me to talk on the phone that much or head out for an evening of fun or do that shelf where I crammed the most recent of the Michael's bags.

The other day I signed up for an Easter egg carton swap at Amusing Provincial. I've seen some of these on your blogs -- you have partners and find out a bit about them, then decorate a six-egg carton to make it all pretty and stuff it with fun art things -- ribbons or button, lace or flowers -- you get the idea. 

 

I did it for a couple of reasons -- first, they were darned cute! And every time I do a swap, I meet fun people -- some of you are some of them! 

 

But when I have a deadline, I'll work heaven and earth to meet it. And if a deadline is what will get me some art time (something of which I have recently deprived myself), then it sounds like a good deal to me.

I was sharing this with someone at work who asked me "How do you do it?" 

"Do what?" I asked.

"All that you do. You've had all this health stuff going on, but still -- you work, you're on the board for the university theatre, you have two blogs, you have book club and friends and Rick. Then you go sign up for this! (I didn't tell her about the classes in May.)  How do you do it?"

"Some of it I have to do. The rest, I want to do."

It's an easy answer. But Annie, in an email, called me out on that concept. "At some point you will start balancing the needs against the wants. The weightier side of the scale will point you in the right direction."

 

Fair 'nuf.

Right now I am going through a lot of introspection, looking at what I must and need to do and how what I want to do fits into all that. If you never do any of the  "want to" things, then what's the rest of it for?

My primary priority must be to get healthy and build up the strength I've lost in the past year. I'm seeing an infectious disease specialist to see if there is something the other docs may have overlooked that might help me be healthier for longer periods of time. I bought the four DVD set of "Sweating to the Oldies" because going to the gym with all those people with germs scares the heck out of me right now. And at the end of the day, I don't have it to give.

I saw a sprout of green. And the thyme in my garden is fragrant. If these plants that suffer the frozen days of winter can pop back and share their gifts. I can, too.

And besides, for what it's worth, the day is getting "longer!

(And, I have a new look at a most wonderful book by Vivian Swift on Chopsticks and String. Check out "When Wanderers Cease to Roam: A Journal of Staying Put." It's dazzling.)