Too Busy Living

Ahh, how timely this post is for me. I so desire a life that is about "living my values". I am the mother of 3 children and feel the time slipping away from us, as I try and parent while spending the majority of my days sitting at my desk, at work. I live for the weekends, count down the days until I get 2 days off to spend with my family, and oh yeah, catch up on all that cleaning. Mine is the reality of so many, I know I'm not alone. I feel like I do my best to use our limited family time wisely, but I know it could always be better. I admire your vision plans Renee, I love your family centered goals. Reading these types of blogs encourages me to "do better" for my family. While a dream of not having to work full time outside of my home is just that, a dream, I realize it could always be worse, and make the best out of what is.

I love how you blog your life. It's inspiring and wonderful reading. :) I only wish I could know you in person. I only blog for friends/family. I realize not many read my writings anymore and that's totally O.K. with me. The few who do are happy I do it, so they can keep up with my life. I do enjoy writing and taking pictures, so it's fun to sometimes write on my personal (private) blog. I rarely write on my public blog, but I do try to keep it since I am trying to run an Etsy shop and like for my buyers to be able to see what we are all about and how we live, etc. It's important for them, I think, to see a face and a family behind this business.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. It gives me pause to remember why I am not really blogging and why I am totally fine with that. I live my life more intentionally and happily when I'm not stressed over the next blog entry or having to take pictures "for the blog"........I love that I can forget my camera and be totally O.K. with that. Just live in the moment, savour the moment and not worry that it's not being captured on film.

But I'm happy you are there, sharing, because yours is one of the few blogs I regularly read. :)

You inspired me today. Thank you.

There is so much living to do, so much being done, the time is fleeting and I don't want to waste it.

Finding time to write has been more elusive for me lately. I don't know how or when to write more, but the time will come. I keep reminding myself that this is a season, and there will be others. I want to fully embrace the one I am in right now.

P.S. The view out your window looks beautiful! What a lovely place to live. No wonder there is not much time for writing!

I wish I had more time to write. I love writing, but I am in a stage of life where I can't write much. I wish I could have more time for my journal. But its more of an every few weeks thing. I would someday like to write a book. I've thrown the idea briefly around about having a blog. But I simply cannot do it. I have young children, with hopefully more to come. This stage is very consuming! I felt liberated when you mentioned once that you couldn't have done a blog during this stage I am in. Thank you.

I am glad that you are busy living and not just writing about it. Otherwise your kids will grow up and you'll have missed a lot. I enjoy the writing you do but I'm glad there is time for other important things.

One thing that I find really frustrates me about this stage of life is the fact that when I want to write, I often can't get my words out clearly. I am simply too tired (up at night, I don't nap well during the day, busy with the kids during the day etc) so I feel like my brain is mushy. Sometimes I just can't get across what I want to say (like now) and I know I make many grammatical errors. But I simply can't seem to rid myself of that right now. Sometimes I do, if the kids sleep well for a night, I feel like I am coming back but often I am just not able to write because of that "mushy mommy brain" feeling.

I do want to write more about my kids though and the little things they do. I kept journalling up better with my first. I try to write it on the calendar to write in my journal so I don't forget. I like to write out my frustrations as it helps me see ways to cope. And then I can look back and see that I did cope. So helpful as a mom. Especially looking back at my entries about my first child and then it helps me parent my second child better.

Oh I wanted to ask you if you use bug spray for hiking, and what kind. I am trying to get our family back into some short hikes (I used to do overnight backpacking trips but can't right now in this stage with young children and illness). We are starting up again in small ways (thanks partly to your inspiration, thank you!) We went this past weekend but I forgot that not all people are as unaffected by the bugs as me. There are A LOT of mosquitoes here. And some black flies (mostly done) and deer flies. Of course its worse in June. We've tried some natural bug sprays but they haven't worked (Dr. Mercola's and Herbal Bug X). They also leave a real herbal scent on our clothes that doesn't easily wash out. Do you use spray? What do you do? My husband talked about just going back to Deet ones but I don't want that especially not for the kids.

Hi Renee!

1. I am consistently impressed at how intentional your life is and how real you are. I would love to sit down with you over tea and soak in your knowledge, and discipline

2. I have really been enjoying Beauty That Moves lately, I think any collaboration of the two of you would be amazing!

3. Curious about what curriculum you have been researching. We're headed more that way too for some subjects. My dyslexic son will do really well to have a routine, and I believe some daily core workbooks will help with that, sprinkled with fun unit studies. I have looked at the bundles Timberdoodle offers, and think the Evan Moor daily books might be a good start. SO opposite of what I thought our homeschooling would look like. I suppose it is more important to be flexible and really cater to my kids' needs and not push to pursue my own ideals.

I find that over here, in my isolated rural corner, we have so fewer options and diversions than what you seem to have over there (we could euphemistically call it "living a simpler life", but I assure you, making do with this kind of life is in fact often just a struggle, and not at all the same as the bucolic lifestyle one often reads about) that - well - living and writing about it is all we can do. Of course, all writing has authorship issues and angles. Personally, my problem is how to find more (computer) time to write about my life, then the opposite. I hope you soon find the right balance in your new life - which I think you're finding, as all the photos in this post are so homey and relaxed, considering your temporary situation.

Renee I have been following your blog for some time now and am constantly inspired by your approach to life. I have three children (aged 5, 3 and 8 months) and as I approach the end of my year-long maternity leave I find myself wondering whether I "achieved" much during my time from work. Did I organise my house enough? No. Did I get enough sleep? Probably not. Did I spend enough time with my kids? Definitely not - there is never enough time! We are about to take off on a 7 week trip half-way-round Australia (where we live) so I am going to focus as much as possible on "being". I want to continue that presence once I return to work. Ah none of this seems to make sense now I read back over it (it IS 6.41am after all) but I am sure you understand :)

I am thankful you take the time to share your life with us in writing. I don't do much of that at all - I find I need lots of time to think and reflect on life and that feels different than putting it on paper or a screen. Two different things. I love to be fed with ideas - from books and blogs and conversation with people and do make a point of taking time for this. I believe I am meant to share my life with other women... not through writing but through face-to-face relationship. This takes time and energy too.

Thanks for sharing--this is something I'm really struggling with right now--your words hit home for me today.

So busy playing in the sand and exploring Portland with my kids that I don't have time to write about it. :) It'll come. Summer is a very busy time.

Would love for you to share the recipe for the soup. It looks delicious!

First, thank you for your beautiful blog. There are many of us who appreciate the work it takes to make it meaningful and inspirational.

I am thankful there are people out there like you who I can relate to in many ways - who I can exchange ideas, stories, and experiences with. We are not the "norm" where we live or even within our own families and to make that connection is great.

As a relatively new blogger, I do wonder how other bloggers keep up with everything. I love doing it, but it's definitely another item to add to my "to do list".

Renee, I've been thinking about what you've expressed and where my own experience fits in with this. It dawned on my, so forcefully, that writing about life IS living the life. Just as crucial and necessary, if not more so, than cooking, or teaching, or serving, or trips to the library, or hiking. Crucial in that all these moments of "living" become chrystallized in our experiencing them, recordeding them, or capturing them. Taking the time to do this or making writing a priority is just as important and needful to me than any of those other things. It's an integral part of "being a mama first after all" when my children see my example that life is full of different activity. Breathing in and breathing out. Writing is the breathing out for me. It makes all the other activity even more real, appreciated, and REMEMBERED. My journaling, creative writing, blogging, and expressing my life and feelings through this creative process is a gift, not only to myself (and I'm just as important as my children!) but especially to my family who'll one day, if not now, so cherish having these words of my life and who I am; OUR family's story.

I make the time as I wake up earlier than the rest of my large family. I sneak away for quiet time during the day. Or sit down at the computer to work, as they do their own work and play. Or stay up a little later when kids are in bed and it's still. It's okay for anyone to have this quiet, centuring time.Busy, tired moms, especially. Doing so keeps me healthy, happy, and balanced (sane!).

Ironicly, just a few days ago, I had a mini-break-down in which I lamented (yes, truly) the believed "missing" time I misplace in my day, my week for writing, for cultivating the creative seedling of a blog to my husband. I'm playing too much! I'm messing around in the kitchen modifying a homemade energy bar too often! I'm outisde--no matter the weather--too much?! We're visioning the character of our family and any changes I need to make! So when you wrote, "I know many people live incredibly inspirational lives and don't write about it." I sighed, I remembered that: it's okay not to write it all down. It's a gift to be interrupted by my four year old son with the request to sword fight, to be begged by my daughter to read another chapter of Narnia to her, to do anything but write it down. This is the phase we've been in for awhile, and I need to be grateful for all the lived moments not written for I can simply recall them from my handwritten chicken scratches later when the time surfaces to write them out fully.

So, with gratitude I read this post.

What a beautiful place Renee. I'm with you on the "too busy living to write" place. I'm afraid I won't be able to get back in the groove again. Thinking of you! ♥

I am excited to see what you and Heather create together!! I too feel like living has been put on warp speed and sometimes it feels challenging to focus on the one thing at hand, but maybe that's the point. I feel better when I only focus on what is infront of me. I do any writing at night after people are in bed, or when I am waiting during piano lessons or at odd moments in the car before I get all my peoples out to go into the market or something like that. It works. I also appreciate that post from Tsh...thanks for the link and enjoy the rest of your week...enjoying your lived life!

:)Lisa

I agree with the other reader who says she'd love to meet you, have tea and soak in some of the peace that your writings and pictures show.

Thank you for sharing your inspiring story. I can really relate in also wanting to live what I say and hoping to get to live some dreams too!

Yeah! I'm all for living the life, and writing about it when writing becomes an authentic expression of it. And so appreciate that when you do find the time to write, it is with such depth and reflection. I've been rediscovering my journal lately, and it feels much more in line with the life I want to live than blogging. For now. Everything has it's purpose! Also, been reading Gift of an Ordinary Day and can see why it was so important to you at this time of transition. And lastly, want to recommend Soulcraft by Bill Plotkin, for the way it delves into the kind of journey you are on and also connection with nature. Might be of interest to you.

I am not sure how I got here (some sort of blog how I suppose) but I am happy that I did. This post is perfect for the space I am in right now....thank you for sharing these comforting and inspiring words. I, too, struggle with the balance between living and writing. I write to keep myself focused on the little moments in life that I love and feel uplifted by, it is my time to intentionally focus on keeping perspective and yet it can be a challenge to find that time with out trading restfulness for reflection. Right now, in this summer season, we are too busy picking berries and fruit, gardening two gardens in different locations, adventuring, dreaming about first grade homeschooling, trying to craft in the short night hours and planning the preservation recipes for late summer and fall harvests, finding a gluten free life and healing our guts....:) it's a busy and happy life and I hope to get a bit recorded but if not....at least we were busy living! happy summer to you!

I love how you said that "I'm too busy living my life to write about living my life". I have felt the same recently (having 4 children 5 years old and under) I just didn't know how to put it into words. I get down on myself for not writing as much as I would like or if I do write it is just "something" without quality or depth or insight. Your words made me feel like that is OK though. Living life is so much more important than writing about it. Thank you.

Oh yeah, and that stew in the picture looks delicious!!

Oh, yes, I can relate to this and you write it so eloquently, as always. Congrats on co-contributing to Unplugged Sunday, as noted above, Renee! I love your images of your lived life. Nicola