Form Follows Function

I have a lot of plans, dreams, micro projects, huge projects, hopeful projects all competeing for my limited resources. I am sure many other women (and men) struggle with the same dilemma. This year I feel slower- sluggish and prone to escape into myself. I think it is just a feature of overwhelm and something that I can conquer if I just use some of the tools and thinking I have done to move things step by step.

I want to focus on making the restaurant the best it can be. But I am split many ways. I think it is time to start a more regular weekly plan of what needs doing and when I will be in Kimono to get those things done. Perhaps it is partly Feb. blues too. I get hit by those- but this year Jan. was pretty stalled in some ways too. I need to be clear with myself about what I want. I have never struggled with who I am and who I want to be- but sometimes I am caught in wanting too many things to happen all at once.

Plus having a puppy this year has been a constant joy but a real readjustment. more than any other dog or pet I had years ago- this one I feel the dependency both as a difficult daily task and a luscious loving obligation. I know my friends mostly have children- and Archie is just my dog. But a lot of the feelings of responsibility are similar if less serious.  In any case having him and a baby-business is a juggling show.

I need to decide my functions each morning and the form my actions need to take will follow.

My 2011 Mantra

 

Coming out of 2010 I decided I was going to follow in the footsteps of my friend and HRH Of Queen Sweeping I decided I was going to try to chose a word to live up to and define 2011. I wrote and searched and wrote some more and I decided that I am going to focus on 3 not 1. Kind of like a mantra of steps to move forward and out of the troubled times and into a more prosperous and strong future. 

Clarity, Simplicity and Sustainability. 

I am first going to be clear, crystal clear with myself and my closest and dearest. 

I am going to simplify and strengthen with each decsision and step forward.

And I am going to pursue courses of action that I can sustain and that can sustain me and those around me far into the future. 

It will certainly not be easy to put away rose colored glasses for the clear lenses needed right now- But it is past time for clarity. So Here we Go- 2011- I am going to face you full on. I am going to be clear about what I need to do, what I want and how it is going to look. I am going to simplfy and break down everything into to do-able steps and check them off a clean master list as I climb this next hill. And finally I am going to build a foundation for sustainable projects, process and life.

I will use this tripod approach to get stable and I will focus my lense with each choice I make.
And through it all, shiny, clean, 2011 -- you and I will become great friends. We will reach Dec. 2011 knowing that we have had good times, great adventures, and made smart choices together. We will toast the new year into 2012 knowing that this past 3 years of transition was worth it. And we will be ready for whatever comes next.

Onward.

Clarity, Stability & Simplicity

Achieve- What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today. -#reverb10

Clarity, Stability & Simplicity

I will feel at peace and empowered if I achieve these related three things. I can't separate them because in my current situation they are irrevocably intertwined.

Pay and prepare for The Queen Sweep
Start using the Tools on Reverb10
Get back to daily walking
Clean off the dreaded window sill of books and junk
Organize the in and out pile
Write the letters that need writing
Decide between Yoga, Pilates and the Gym and do it somehow.
Make my dentist appointment (asap)
Commit to 1 calendar (not three!)
Embrace and write about my Word(s)

these are 10 things I can do a little on today- make some progress and then keep plugging away. I am filled with stress and worry- but hope and determination too.  

breathing is important.

These Things that Hold Me Down

(image by Neil Mulholland)

Things What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life? (Author: Sam Davidson)- #reverb10

This is a big question for me. It seems like my focus has been on wanting to be rid of some big things and little things that impede and slow my soul. But this is also a hard one to write about. Diving right in might be best...

1. Drinking too much Coke. I mean- I don't want to say never, but at least get to rarely.


2. CLUTTER- it is not one thing but many- streamlining my "stuff" and systemizing. But mostly just getting rid of that which I don't need or want or love.

3. Books that I have already read (except the true life changing, keepers) the chances of me re-reading old already read books with my schedule and lifestyle are so remote- and the shelf space so coveted that it is time to box, bag, donate and dust!

4. Procrastination- time to kick the habit, once and for all. I don't really procrastinate too much on work stuff (though sometimes- damn menu covers) but personal stuff. Oh My. Hello- dentist- here I come!

5. Clothes that don't fit. Obvious, I know- but....

6. Multiple calendars- it is time to have my schedule all in one place. Adding to the crazy with a personal calendar, two online calendars and a paper calendar?! it is a wonder I ever know which way is up!

7. Pens, Pens and more pens. Find the ones that work that I like. Donate the rest to a school or something! drawers of pens I don't use- kind of crazy land.

8. Fear of saying No. Very important and so far impossible.

9. Scraps of papers that never find a file. I have the start of a system. Time to use it.

10. Relationships that don't work. For the first time in a long time, I find myself embroiled in a few situations where there is no one really at fault but the relationships are just not working. It is past time to set myself and others free and move on. There is no one in these situations that I wish ill will toward, and hopefully friendships are still possible but partnerships are not. It was a steep learning curve for all of us I think.

11. Distraction. in too many ways to detail here. but worth considering as it's own prompt.

Wow, this list is not too daunting. And it is certainly all worth working on. Reverberations.