So many thoughts at once...

 

Why do ideas come to me so many at a time?  Is it like this for you?  It seems I either drag along for days on end, not overly motivated, or the ideas for things to do are so many and varied and come so fast that I feel overwhelmed by the choices.

 
I'm going to let you inside my brain for a bit and let you see how the train of thought winds its way around in there.  Tell me if you relate.  

Things on my mind at the moment:
 
Finishing organizing this office I’m sitting in 
 
Organizing and streamlining my craft stuff 
 
Making some (maybe hard) decisions about what crafts I even want to do at this point
 
It’s occurring to me that my papercraft stuff is mostly what's left to organize in the office, and that thought gives me comfort as I realize this job shouldn't be as overwhelming as I've been allowing myself to feel about it.
 
My craft stuff, in general, is a big chunk of what is weighing me down, causing my motivation to lag.  I've known this for years.  It's time to come to terms with it.
 
Figuring out the entirety of my craft stuff is going to be a process.  I enjoy different hobbies, but having a sufficient (sometimes an abundance of) supplies to pursue those hobbies can be detrimental to the creative process.  This is going to take time.  I will do well to accept that up front.
 
It doesn’t help that even as I type, I want to craft, draw, paint, sew, crochet - just make stuff.  But I can't cull through and organize, and create the mess involved in making stuff at the same time. 
 

Things other than crafts I'm thinking about:

I also want to go through my closet and see what I will feel good about wearing for spring.  My body has changed, and much of what I wore last spring just isn't going to work well now.
 
I’m continuing to deep clean the house.  Fortunately, this doesn’t require a lot of thought, and my strength and energy seem up to the task for the most part.  Keeping up the momentum is the main thing.  With all the sunshine we’ve been having recently, dusty windows are starting to bother me, so maybe I’ll tackle some strategic ones this week.  Or not.  It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so maybe I can just put that thought off for later.
 
I also want to plan a garden, maybe order seeds, and maybe even try to get some seedlings going.
 
And, with this crazy warm weather we’ve been having, I can't believe I'm already starting to wonder if I should uncover the strawberries and get that bed ready for spring.  The strawberries usually don’t get uncovered until late March or April.  And what about the asparagus?  Could I possibly have any coming through the soil already?  Surely not, but I should check sometime this week.
 
And none of this touches the personal disciplines I feel the need to be about, too.  Exercise, planning and cooking healthy meals, Bible study, even pleasure reading…   That list seems to go on, too.
 
And somewhere in between deciding on things I want to do, is the necessary and often mundane stuff like laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, sleeping…  I don’t find these things particularly onerous to do, but they do slow me down.
 
Earlier this month I printed out a free habit tracker from here.   I've mostly failed at habit tracking in February, but a new month (which feels like a new beginning) is right around the corner.   I love new beginnings.  I seem to live for them – wanting to cast old failures aside as soon as I can turn a calendar page.
 
Last week I began reading Atomic Habits by James Clear.  When I put it on "hold" a couple of weeks ago, I was something like 36th in line.  Even with four or five copies in our library system, I figured it would be months before I would rise to the top of the pack of people wanting to read this book.  I was shocked to get it last week, and assuming there are others behind me, I must be disciplined if I'm going to finish this book before I have to return it.  I’m in the second chapter, and I can say right from the beginning James Clear has some real gems to share. 

As I consider whether or not to publish this post, I will be the first to say I'm not sure it's worthy of publishing.  But I do know it was worth writing.   Getting my jumbled and competing thoughts in print is often the route to clearer thinking – eventually.

 
Since I've decided to go ahead and hit "Publish", and since I’m putting myself out on a limb with this post, I’ll invite you to watch this space for more posts I’m thinking may be a series as I tackle some of my organizational projects. 
 
The first project being papercraft supplies.

Don't think for one minute that this is the total of my paper crafting stash. This is just a teaser to pique your interest.  In a future post, I'll invite you into my actual process.  Dawn (The Minimal Mom) would say I'm about to embark on an inventory process, Dana White (AKA A Slob Comes Clean) would encourage me to use the container concept.  James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, would say I'm deciding on the type of person I want to be.  They would all be right.  And since this isn't my first rodeo, I'll be adding their wisdom to my lifetime of experience of, yet again, tackling my stuff.