Greeting from Cyprus, My Friends. Back to blogging soon. Alicja x
Tag: Life
This life has been hiding, this life has emerged
Nothing New: Repair
It’s just a matter of days now… soon the little man and I will be in Cyprus. I am hectically trying to tick off items on our travelling checklist and it is actually quite a thing if you consider that I have pledged that nothing new will be bought this year. The fact that we’ll be jumping seasons makes it even more interesting… clothes-wise and shoe-wise.
My wardrobe has very little to show for itself. I keep on wearing the same pairs of trousers ever since my son was born and those trousers are looking really sad now. They are frayed and damaged and have been in need of repair for almost three months now … so today I eventually organised myself to take them to a tailor. I couldn’t mend them myself – the damage was far too extensive – a professional was needed.
I also had a few items to repair for my son like his trainers and shorts but these I decided to fix myself as the repair cost far exceeded the purchase cost of these items. It was just about simple sewing anyway and my box of threads and needles proved to be sufficient for bringing those items back to their original look and function.
In the corner of my wardrobe there’s a bag of items of clothing and accessories that need repair. We all have them, don’t we? Often they are not bags only but attics and garages that store those items in need of fixing. Those things make me really uncomfortable. I feel that I should be doing something about them and so I am now. I decided to take the bull by the horns and I’ve created a list on my desk of all the things to fix and I’ll slowly work my way through them this year… just because the time seems right for this and I feel like giving them a second life. At the end of the day, repairing is part of caring, is it not?
So I gave myself a promise to fix at least one item per month before they clutter our house further or end up in landfill. Are there any items that need repair in your house too? Do you think you could also try to fix some of them this year?
Would you like to learn more about Nothing New Project? Visit Inked in Colour.
Busy calendars are not so bad really
A lot is happening in our family life recently – so much so that I find myself having to sit at the table more often than usually in order to plan. And this planning is no longer only for a week or two and no longer for work only – I am trying to organise our next three months. A few travels before us, some family events, some house maintenance to do, deadlines to meet, projects to complete, routines to carry out and ideas to capture. So I am sitting in front of our calendar today and am making lists of all those things to do and the things to remember about and I am feeling slightly overwhelmed by our commitments. But I am hopeful and positive as most of the things and events are of positive nature and I think that ultimately it will give us a lot of joy to attend to them.
So many of the events and commitments in our lives are of such character… they are supposed to enrich and fulfil us in some manner… bring us joy, pleasure, satisfaction, happiness, dignity… there’s always a bigger and brighter purpose behind things… behind things even as ordinary as ironing… because it’s not about the chore really… but about carrying your human self with dignity, respect and grace… Isn’t it?
And so I’m thinking today that I don’t want to complain about too many things to do anymore… because actually there is something bigger than me and bigger than my tired body and busy mind behind most of them… there are family ties behind them, there’s health and well-being of my husband and son, there is a community of determined and caring people, and there is love and knowledge and growth of me and many. There is a strong purpose behind most things in my calendar and I am very happy that I can make these plans and hopefully carry them out in the coming months.
Calendars are those funny things that are not really what they appear to be… they make a pretense of being packed with duties but in fact they chock-full of strong and serious meanings…
No wonder we like to fill them up so much…
Coming Soon: People who care, people who share: The Greengrocers
Coming soon: About people who care. About people who look after those who live in cities, about our Greengrocers. :) Do you have a greengrocer where you live? Do you share your life stories with him/her? My greengrocer has told me a lot about his life and work and so I’ll be sharing with you his stories soon. Can’t wait, can you?
Postcards Without Stamps 