I went to the library half an hour before it closed last night because I needed some answers! I picked up 4 books, and I am gonna tell you about them over the next while I think.
One of them was NOT MY LIFE IN FRANCE, Julia Child's autobiography.
That book is currently living on my "favorite books" bookshelf, right over there.:)
But I AM going to tell you about how I love that book SO MUCH and why.:)
I love this book because it is all about THE JOY OF LIFE! The joy of LIVING life! TO THE FULLEST! Julia Child was so awesome. She is one of those people who are so lucky to find their passion and just run with it.
She also had a really special relationship with her husband that is really inspiring.:)
This is a Valentine's postcard they sent out to all their friends one year. So awesomely scandalous and fun.:)
Aristotle said, "Wherein your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your occupation."
I think the word "talents" is a serious problem. I think it should read, "PASSION." Where does your passion lie? Where does your JOY lie?
Julia kind of combined them. She took her passion for food and her talents(some natural, some learned by TONS of hard work), and created a beautiful legacy of living and loving and enjoying life.
Thinking back on the last ten years of my life, have I been occupying my time with my passions? Have I been guided in my pursuits by joy?
-Motherhood and marriage-the answer is a BIG FAT FOR SURE!!!! For the most part.:) Being so ill as to not be able to really do the WORK of mothering and being a loving companion has been really difficult emotionally for me. But that is something that is finally changing as I am learning what my body needs to function.
As for my other joys, I haven't been living them at all for the most part. And that is why this crisis has occurred, in my opinion.
So today I am studying myself from the viewpoint of what brings me joy? What are my strengths? What are my "talents/skills"? What comes easily to me? How do I want people to remember me? Where do my greatest passions lie? What do I want to spend my time doing?
WHAT DO I WANT TO SPEND MY TIME DOING? That is such a big DAILY question for me.
I actually like homemaker things.:) When I have the energy, which isn't often, but is getting MORE often.:) But there is more to me than mom and homemaker. And those other parts of me are starting to voice themselves.
So the other books I picked up at the library, I am gonna tell you about over the next while. THEY ARE REALLY AWESOME. But this post already has enough to think about in it I think.:)
TODAY's CHALLENGE: Where do your passions lie? What brings you the most joy in your life? Are you spending your time doing things that bring you joy? Are you working towards joy? Heavenly Father wants us to have as much JOY as we can in this life!!! So think about your joys and passions and tell me about it!
THIS WEEK'S GIVE AWAY is a copy MY LIFE IN FRANCE. It is such a good read! So inspiring! Make sure you have eaten first by the way....:)
Here are some of the passions that I am discovering that are more important to ME than I thought:
-Dancing. Dancing makes me happy FOR DAYS after I do it. Dancing is an important part of what makes Clair, Clair.
-Gardening and being in touch with nature. I NEED THIS. NEED. I find so much of my internal peace when I am digging in the dirt and out in the woods or at the seashore.
-Being in a creative process with my BJ. I need this too. I am happiest when he is home and we are working together. We are always scheming schemes to get him to work from home with me.:)
-Family life. I love family time with my tiny family. I love being with them and laughing with them.
-Creating beauty. Experiencing beauty. I get very unhappy when I can not have beauty around me, or create things.
-I AM A SEEKER OF TRUTH. Learning is important to me. And I am going back to school in 2013.
-Health and wellness and nutrition and working out! I am really passionate about these things come to find out! I love FEELING good in my body. I am not just talking about being skinny.
-Romance, ideals...combining truth and beauty.:)
-The gospel of Jesus Christ. I LOVE teaching the gospel to people. I love feeling the spirit while I am teaching. I love living this beautiful plan He has presented.
That's my list so far! And it is starting to reshape my life right now. Where will your passions and pursuits take you?:)
Make: I love to make things, to bring things into existence. Creation is, in my opinion, one of God's coolest abilities. Speaking of which...
ReplyDeleteAbility: Ability makes me SO happy. Learning to speak a language or make a puzzle box or program a computer or build a garage room... every time I learn something new I'm more than I was before.
Love: This is the aim and pursuit of my existence. I love love and I love loving love.
Peace: I adore harmony, and endeavor to create and grow it always. Peace can be the absence of war or conflict, but in Japan, the word means both peace and harmony. It has proven valuable to reflect on that.
Music - like my father, I love music from all over the world. I play and I listen, and I use it to manipulate my mood. Music amazes me mostly. I feel privileged to be able to do a little bit of it and look forward to the hereafter when I can learn much much more. Maybe Nancy will be my teacher then. She has fantastic innate ability I don't even understand.
ReplyDeletePlanning - I love to have an idea and to flesh it out down to the n'th
Discovery - I love reading to learn what others think. I love listening to the TED lectures, sometimes they really spin me around. If I could, I would spend half my day in school and the other half practicing music.
I LOVE helping others--especially children--discover the JOYS of lifelong learning for its own sake. I am passionate about it, I have a few natural talents that make it possible, and my schooling and work experience have sort of filled in the gaps. I'm SOOOOOO LUCKY to know what I want to do with my life and to love it and to get to do it almost every day.
ReplyDeleteI, too, really like to create. LOTS.
I'm passionate about making my marriage what I want it. I've still got a long way to go...coming from our families, we know what we *don't* want, but it's hard to make it what we DO want. But I love figuring it out together and those rare moments where we really catch that vision of who we want to be as a WE. And he's SO very fun. :)
I am passionate about words, but I don't spend as much time with them as I'd like (writing, especially...). Mostly it's my own fault...if only we didn't have to sleep, I'd have enough time in the day to do it all! I did just get a few awesome books that make me excited to revisit this love. :)
I don't really know what else I'm passionate about...hafta think about it. :)