creativity

Day 24: What are we waiting for?

Using my new Beautiful by Drew plates today. Just for me.

We’ve all uttered the phrase, “Someday I’ll…” It applies to big dreams and small delights. Earlier this year, I’d planned to make brunch for friends. I’d worked out a lovely feast as cooking and baking are two of my favorite pastimes. I bought new cookware, bakeware, and plates for the occasion (thank you Drew Barrymore!)

The winter being what it was meant we decided to cancel, and sadly never rescheduled. I was sad about this. I never even opened the box of Beautiful by Drew plates. I just put the sealed box in the back of my closet for someday. After all, why should I have new plates just for myself. I’d wait until a special occasion. Every time I saw it, I felt a little pang. Missed opportunity. Missed connection. Missed fun.

Today as I was cleaning and reorganizing, I saw the sealed box. What was I waiting for, exactly? Why not use the new beautiful plates myself? I opened it, took out the new plates, and swapped out my old ones which are chipped and have seen better days. And thoroughly enjoyed them.

Over the past few months, I’ve been redecorating my apartment and rewarding myself with tiny splurges. These new plates, cookware, and bakeware. A few new small appliances in my kitchen. Painting my apartment. A few new pieces of furniture. New art. New books I’m excited to read. A new yoga mat. I’ve even learned to successfully take those spiderettes from spider plants and make whole new plants from them (a massive accomplishment for someone with no green thumb!) These are all small things that have brought me daily joy and they’ve added up to something wonderful – making someday today. We deserve it. We’re worth it.

creativity

Joy today: How Tech Sabbath is helping my writing

Last week, I tried taking a Tech Sabbath. Started by Casper ter Kuile via Twitter with the hashtag #TechSabbath, it’s a ritual of shutting off social media, email, your computer, and your phone as much as you can after work on Friday night to Saturday night. I mostly disconnected from technology for that 24 hours and it was amazing. I finished outlining my third novel that I’ll write as part of National Novel Writing Month this November and then spent Saturday with friends in Philly. I came back to tech today with a little less attachment to it and more joy. So it’s safe to say that I’ll be making #TechSabbath a part of my self-care.