Life Plan

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us

Joseph Campbell

When I was a teenager I had a life plan. It went like this:

1. Go to college
2. Get married
3. Have children
4. Live happily ever after

I did go to college and then graduate school but the last three never happened. At almost 40, I am still single and childless. I think about this a lot and it always makes me sad.

I read the quote above a few days ago and I have been thinking about it ever since. It occurred to me that my plan has kept me from doing some things I would have loved. I never moved to Prague to teach English as a Second Language because I knew it would be difficult to meet people. Same for going on a mission trip to India, moving to San Francisco and, of course, moving to Paris. I could have done any of these things if I had set my mind to it but I didn't. I was always waiting for Mr. Right. I have never even owned a dog for fear that I would meet someone who didn't like my dog, was allergic, etc.

Well no more, I am going to discard this plan and I am going to find the life that is waiting for me. I am starting with a puppy, a toy poodle named Winston. He is coming to live with me next month and I am very excited. If God decides to bless me with a husband and children great, if not that's OK too. I am ready to live the life that is waiting for me.

Creating an Hermes Scarf

This is a video of a scarf printing demonstration by Hermes at the South Coast Plaza boutique. The name of the scarf he is creating is Les Amoureux de Paris. I would love to be able to attend one of these demonstrations in person, but I am never near a boutique when they visit.

Flowers

I bought these roses yesterday at Fresh Market. I love fresh flowers, specifically fresh white flowers. White flowers are so pure, simple, and beautiful. I am not much of a plant person, I have a hard time taking care of them. Flowers are better because there isn't the pressure to keep them alive. Since I know that they are not going to last forever, I don't feel so bad when they wilt and die. Plus, the flowers just smell really lovely. Sometimes I wish I had the budget to buy flowers every week but then I wonder if I would appreciate them as much as I do buying them just once a month like I do now.

What kind of flowers do you like?

Gratitude Journal

Real life isn't always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgment of what is working in our lives can help us not only survive but surmount our difficulties.

Sarah Ban Breathnach

The above quote is from the book Simple Abundance. I bought this book last week after reading several good reviews. It is a lovely book with lots of very interesting topics. The first topic that caught my attention was keeping a daily gratitude journal by writing down five things to be grateful for every day.

There are some days when I would find it difficult to even come up with one thing to be grateful for let alone five. I find that when I am really sad or under a lot of stress I spend the day feeling sorry for myself and wishing for things I don't have. This will inevitably lead to overeating, buying things I don't need and/or not sleeping well. I recognize that this is not good for me and is a roadblock to my desire to live a simple life. I plan to start a gratitude journal today. Maybe by listing things I am grateful for everyday the bad days will be fewer and far between and I will be happier on a daily basis. Here are five things I am grateful for today:

1. My faith
2. My sister
3. My nephew
4. My parents
5. My best friend

What are you grateful for?

Quiet Time

This is the Memory Garden at my church. I love to come here right before church starts on Sunday and pray. I also come here during the week if I am feeling a little sad. It is a wonderful place to gather your thoughts.

Do you have a place where you go when you need some quiet time?

Fountain Pens

in today’s Internet-DVD-cellphone world where overachievers rule, dot-coms spring up as fast as houseflies on a hot summer day and die off just as fast, and nobody has time even to sneeze, a fountain pen is a wonderful — and useful — diversion, a practical reminder of a time when things were a lot less hectic.

Richard Binder

I love writing. I am not talking about writing a note or journal entry but the physical act of forming words on paper. I love the way the ink flows onto the paper. I have not switched from a paper agenda to an electronic calendar because I would miss writing down my appointments.

I love to write with a fountain pen. For many years I resisted using a fountain pen. I wasn’t a serious writer or anyone of importance so the thought using any pen other than a disposable ball point pen seemed silly to me. A few months ago I read an article on the pleasures of using a fountain pen. I decided to give it a try. Not wanting to invest a lot of money on a pen I may not like I began with a disposable fountain pen. When I started to write with it, the pen seemed a bit scratchy. I discovered the ink wasn’t flowing well and shook the pen up a bit. The ink began to flow smoothly and I began to understand what the article was trying to express.

After two disposable pens I decided to move on to an actual refillable fountain pen. I conducted a lot of research and read many posts on the Fountain Pen Network Forum. I decided to purchase a Sheaffer Prelude. The pen was heavier than I anticipated but it was easy to use. Not to mention it looked beautiful, much more attractive than the disposable pens I had been using.




I love to write with my fountain pen. It makes me feel like a real writer every time I use it, even if it is only to write a grocery list.

Do you use a fountain pen?

The French Cafe

One of my favorite things to do when I visit France is sit in a café. I love that for the price of a cup of coffee you can sit in one place all day and think, read, write, people watch etc. The wait staff won’t bother you or tell you to leave. We don’t have this kind of establishment where I live. I mean you can go to Starbucks coffee and sit down for a while, but it isn’t really the same. We do have sidewalk cafes but unless you plan to keep on buying food your time at a table is restricted.

I read this article the other day on the Bonjour Paris website. I too am envious of the old man who gets to sit in “his” café all day. I have dreams of one day saving enough money to move to a small village in France and become a café regular. I could sit all day and write in my journal, write letters to loved ones back home, read a good book and enjoy the simple pleasure of life in a French cafe.