Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a terrific one.
Here is a brief list of how I incorporated voluntary simplicity into my life this week:
(1) Exercise. Voluntary simplicity involves focusing on people (not things). Too often we get so busy we neglect our health. That was a real struggle for me when I was still in the rat race. I've never been skinny, but early in my career I began to pack on pounds due to my insane hours at my desk. That continued for a number of years until I became a mom and I wanted to be healthier for my kids. I've been a fairly healthy eater throughout my adult years, but lack of exercise had been my pitfall. So, as a young mom, I joined the Y near my office and faithfully went to workout every work day at lunch time. Over time, I lost over 30 pounds. And I kept it off for several years. I also aspired to lose a bit more but was not able to. To do so, I really needed to up my exercise, but I just didn't have enough time for that. I barely had time for what I was doing. But then things changed, my professional demands intensified greatly. My ever more demanding work life meant I had little control over what I ate at times, and eventually I had to give up my dedicated exercise schedule. Despite having kept the weight off for several years, once my work demands forced me to give up regular exercise, it all came back--and surprisingly fast. How depressing! I realized that the only way to change the situation was to exercise regularly again, and I vowed that when I stepped down from my paid gig and had more control over my schedule, I would get back into the swing of it. That worked well initially this fall, but then we went on several family trips and Thanksgiving arrived. Basically, my schedule got crazy and my exercise schedule fell by the wayside. Earlier in the fall, I had re-lost some weight, but things stalled as my exercise waned. This week, however, I've renewed my resolve. I'm proud to report that I did not miss one day of exercise. There are so many benefits to exercise. It is not just about weight loss or weight control. When I exercise regularly, I am a happier person on so many levels. It really is not to be missed. So, I share this in the hopes that it will encourage anyone who struggles in this area. Particularly moms of young children, we find it difficult to find time to take care of our health. But I think the flight attendant advice is apt in many aspects of life--we need to put our own oxygen mask on before we attempt to put on the masks of our children. If we expire before we get anyone else's mask on, we're not helping anyone. It is not noble to sacrifice oneself in that manner. Taking care of ourselves means we're more likely to be here and be in a position to help others.
(2) Meditation. This week was the second time I made it to my church's weekly meditation session. This time, it was a "drumming meditation," which was something new for me. Frankly, this was not my cup of tea. All the pounding of the drums gave me a headache and stressed me out a bit. But it was great to try something new. The drums were pretty. And the second half of the session involved just a regular meditation, which was nice. It's always important to try new things. Even if it was not my favorite type of meditation, I learned a lot and was inspired by the people who attended.
(3) Advent. As a Christ-follower, I'm preparing for the celebration of Christmas. That celebration means different things to different people. After all, many non-religious people celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday. To me, at this point in my faith journey, I think Christmas means reflecting on what it means to have Jesus in my life. Carrie Underwood bravely took on the iconic role of "Maria" in a live TV version of The Sound of Music recently. I don't follow her on social media, but I've heard that she responded to the barrage of vicious criticism of her performance by simply stating that there are a lot of people who need Jesus in their lives and she will be praying for them. I've been thinking about that response. To me, what she is saying rings true--a lot of people are worn down by the negativity of the world, the lack of hope, and the absence of love in their lives. They don't know any better than to attack others. To me, having Jesus in your heart means understanding that there is a better way to live--to have hope and love in your heart. If we keep Jesus in our hearts, then we will radiate his hope and love to others who need that encouragement and peace. This week, I've tried to be mindful of this. I've tried to reach out to others to encourage them in various ways. And I've thanked those who have done the same for me. Christmas is a time of light in the darkness of winter. I believe we're called to be light to one another.
Cheers! And have a lovely Sunday. If you celebrate Christmas in a religious sense, I also wish you a meaningful Advent!
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Transitions
In the last post I shared a link by a woman who homesteads. She was sharing advice that she wished someone had shared with her before she began homesteading. In life, having insight from those who've traveled the road ahead of us is so incredibly helpful. I keep thinking about this woman's post. I hope you are too. And I think there are a couple broader lessons to be learned here.
First, seek out and be open to advice from others. Knowing what they've learned in their journey will help you avoid some of the same pitfalls.
Second, be open to lessons learned even from people whose life experiences are very different from yours. I'm a suburban mom whose having trouble keeping alive the herbs in my kitchen window. I am not now--and probably will never be--a homesteader. My family and I would starve!
But at heart what this woman is writing about is transitions. What she writes about transitioning from an urban to a rural setting to homestead is actually very applicable to my life. I've been transitioning from a life in the rat race to focusing on my family. Like her grandiose expectations and goals when she began homesteading, I also dreamed big and had high hopes for my home and homeschooling. And like her experience homesteading, not all my dreams and hopes have materialized in the 4 months or so that I've been home.
Nonetheless, her advice that it doesn't have to happen overnight is helpful. I'm already beginning to see that some of my plans are more long term and have a longer germination period than I'd assumed. Being gentle on myself about that reality is important. And taking time to take stock and revel in the successes is important. Even though I haven't met all my goals for my home or my homeschooling, there has been a lot of progress already. And we're not done yet.
First, seek out and be open to advice from others. Knowing what they've learned in their journey will help you avoid some of the same pitfalls.
Second, be open to lessons learned even from people whose life experiences are very different from yours. I'm a suburban mom whose having trouble keeping alive the herbs in my kitchen window. I am not now--and probably will never be--a homesteader. My family and I would starve!
But at heart what this woman is writing about is transitions. What she writes about transitioning from an urban to a rural setting to homestead is actually very applicable to my life. I've been transitioning from a life in the rat race to focusing on my family. Like her grandiose expectations and goals when she began homesteading, I also dreamed big and had high hopes for my home and homeschooling. And like her experience homesteading, not all my dreams and hopes have materialized in the 4 months or so that I've been home.
Nonetheless, her advice that it doesn't have to happen overnight is helpful. I'm already beginning to see that some of my plans are more long term and have a longer germination period than I'd assumed. Being gentle on myself about that reality is important. And taking time to take stock and revel in the successes is important. Even though I haven't met all my goals for my home or my homeschooling, there has been a lot of progress already. And we're not done yet.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Simply Sunday #12
Happy Sunday!
I've got just a short list this week. More is not always more.
(1) Simple Date Night. Our kids had a sleepover this weekend, so my husband and I had a date night. We had had plans to go to a particular restaurant we'd wanted to try. But when we dropped our kids off, we visited for a long time with the hosting parents and started our date late. The restaurant was fairly far away. It is family owned, and we've been unsuccessful in the past because they aren't open as many hours and don't keep as predictable a schedule as an Olive Garden or Taco Bell. At that point in the evening, we weren't sure if we could get there before they'd close. So we went with the flow and just got a burger on the way home from the sleepover home. It was delicious! We don't eat a lot of meat, rarely eat beef or fried foods. So it was a real treat. Not fancy or anything. But yummy.
(2) Wisdom. I have always loved learning from life experiences--mine and those of other folks. Now that I'm in my 40s, I feel like I've learned so much. Though there is still so much more to learn, I'm so much wiser than I was earlier in my journey. I enjoy sharing the insights I've learned with folks who are receptive. And I love to hear the insights of folks who've lived a different lifestyle or who've lived a similar one but began their journey earlier than me. Along those lines, this morning, I came across a blog post that I found very helpful: http://gnowfglins.com/2013/10/14/rural-homesteading-four-things-i-wish-i-had-known. It is by a woman who is a former missionary turned rural homesteader. I am very drawn to both the lives of missionaries and homesteaders, though my husband rightfully laughs a bit at both interests because I'm not very hearty and I'm terribly squeamish about critters. At this point in my life, I'd never be able to live without certain modern urban comforts. Nonetheless, this particular homesteading blog post was really insightful to me. Though the writer lives such a different lifestyle from me, her words of wisdom are actually pretty transferrable to other ways of life. Much of what she advised are things I needed to hear about my life in the 'burbs as I maintain a home and educate my kids. We all get socialized to constant busyness and beat ourselves up if we aren't achieving everything on our to-do list. That is not healthy. That is not helpful. So, even if you aren't a homesteader, take a read of this blog post. It may speak to you even if you don't know a thing about growing your own food!
Make it a great day!
I've got just a short list this week. More is not always more.
(1) Simple Date Night. Our kids had a sleepover this weekend, so my husband and I had a date night. We had had plans to go to a particular restaurant we'd wanted to try. But when we dropped our kids off, we visited for a long time with the hosting parents and started our date late. The restaurant was fairly far away. It is family owned, and we've been unsuccessful in the past because they aren't open as many hours and don't keep as predictable a schedule as an Olive Garden or Taco Bell. At that point in the evening, we weren't sure if we could get there before they'd close. So we went with the flow and just got a burger on the way home from the sleepover home. It was delicious! We don't eat a lot of meat, rarely eat beef or fried foods. So it was a real treat. Not fancy or anything. But yummy.
(2) Wisdom. I have always loved learning from life experiences--mine and those of other folks. Now that I'm in my 40s, I feel like I've learned so much. Though there is still so much more to learn, I'm so much wiser than I was earlier in my journey. I enjoy sharing the insights I've learned with folks who are receptive. And I love to hear the insights of folks who've lived a different lifestyle or who've lived a similar one but began their journey earlier than me. Along those lines, this morning, I came across a blog post that I found very helpful: http://gnowfglins.com/2013/10/14/rural-homesteading-four-things-i-wish-i-had-known. It is by a woman who is a former missionary turned rural homesteader. I am very drawn to both the lives of missionaries and homesteaders, though my husband rightfully laughs a bit at both interests because I'm not very hearty and I'm terribly squeamish about critters. At this point in my life, I'd never be able to live without certain modern urban comforts. Nonetheless, this particular homesteading blog post was really insightful to me. Though the writer lives such a different lifestyle from me, her words of wisdom are actually pretty transferrable to other ways of life. Much of what she advised are things I needed to hear about my life in the 'burbs as I maintain a home and educate my kids. We all get socialized to constant busyness and beat ourselves up if we aren't achieving everything on our to-do list. That is not healthy. That is not helpful. So, even if you aren't a homesteader, take a read of this blog post. It may speak to you even if you don't know a thing about growing your own food!
Make it a great day!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
The Holiday Season
We are now in what is probably the most challenging time of year for those who crave or try to adhere to a simpler, less hectic, less consumerist way of life. At this time of year in particular, the dominant culture whips everyone up into a frenzy of materialism and overspending.
This makes my husband and I sad. For a number of reasons. People are chasing things that in the end won't make them happy for more than a brief period at most. Meanwhile, they are doing destructive things like spending more than they should, incurring debt and foregoing spending on things with longer lasting value (e.g., retirement accounts, kids' college savings account). And to us, as people of faith, it is particularly upsetting that all this is done in the name of Jesus. The Prince of Peace was born in an animal stable as a peasant. It makes no sense to us to remember his birth by spoiling our children and exceeding our credit card limits.
So, I have a couple of thoughts to share that I hope might be particularly apropos and helpful this time of year.
For those who are Christ followers, I encourage you to re-focus on why we celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas, Christmas and Epiphany. The Advent Conspiracy movement is working hard to help us do that. Their website is: http://www.adventconspiracy.org/. It helps us to avoid the secular trappings of the season to celebrate in a manner that is more in line with our faith.
Another resource you might consider is the 2007 film What Would Jesus Buy? It was produced by Morgan Spurlock, a West Virginia filmmaker who came to prominence with the documentary Super Size Me. What Would Jesus Buy? is an odd film. It follows a band of (what I take to be) performance artists who assume the persona of a flamboyant preacher and his choir who travel the country in the days before Christmas preaching the gospel of the anti-materialism as the "Church of Stop Shopping." At times, What Would Jesus Buy? was someone offensive to me because they caricature my religion (or at least aspects of it) and seem to denigrate the sacred (like baptism). But I always try to keep an open mind and there were definitely parts of the film that were very engaging, and thought-provoking. I particularly found insightful the people interviewed about their attitudes towards Christmas. It made me very sad to hear so many express that the holiday was only about buying a lot of stuff. That alone I find spiritually vacuous, but what I found even more tragic was the attitudes of parents who expressed that they needed to move heaven and earth, do whatever was necessary to give their kids lots of stuff to open on Christmas Day. I don't even know how to express my profound sadness over such cultural perversion over a beautiful holiday with a very different meaning at its core.
In my opinion, the Advent Conspiracy and questioning our perversion of Christmas is much more fruitful that the effort by Focus on the Family and others to get retailers to use the phrase "Merry Christmas" instead of the more inclusive "Happy Holidays." I hold the birth of my Savior as sacred, and find it patently offensive when retailers exploit it to make money. As a Christian, I much prefer the broader term "holidays" to the more explicit exploitation of the birth of Jesus.
Here is something else. To some of you, this will seem really radical, but my husband and I have also never indoctrinated our children into the modern Santa Claus myth. We believe in being honest and don't want to ever give them reason to not trust us. We also don't want them to believe in magical fairies who dump lots of toys on well-behaved kids from affluent families but somehow don't stop at the homes of well-behaved kids from families with less income. And as people of faith, we don't want a mythical elf to compete in any way with Jesus Christ.
If you think this is an extreme approach to the Santa myth, I encourage you watch a wonderful, insightful documentary from A&E's Biography series on Santa Claus. It was first aired in 2005. The episode traces the roots of the Santa myth as a tool for modern retailers to the modern Hollywood deification of the character. As you watch the episode, you will begin to realize the term "deification" is not an exaggeration. One aspect of the episode that particularly got my attention was when one Hollywood interviewee described the modern concept of Santa Claus as like God for grown ups. Wow.
Even if you are not a Christian or if you are not a person of any faith, this time of year is still hectic and stressful. There are social customs in our country that make it quite a challenge to avoid over-spending. For years when we were younger, my husband and I felt the need to buy presents for so many people in our lives. As if there was some shame in not giving someone junk they didn't need and probably didn't want.
For years, I also didn't question all the stuff I was gifted. That was part of life. But after a while, I began to realize what a burden it was. I felt obligated to make room for stuff, even if I didn't like it. Someone had given it to me, it would be ungrateful to throw it out or give it away. My home became cluttered with stuff like that. I began to think of all the money we spend giving each other such gifts. And all the time we waste trying to figure out what to do with it when we receive it and the emotional energy we use feeling guilty that we really want to throw it out.
So, now our family gives few presents. We give presents to our kids--more on that in a minute. But few to adults or anyone outside our family. We agree with the notion of showing appreciation for all the nice folks who make our lives better throughout the year, but now we only give gifts that can be consumed. We enjoy baking once a year and we share that bounty with people whom we appreciate and want to thank. They can eat it or share it with someone else, but it is not going to take room on their shelves gathering dust until they get the gumption to throw it out. And if I say so myself, our baking is pretty good, so it is a treat to receive our cookies and muffins.
It is difficult for all of us this time of year, but it is particularly difficult for parents, in large part to the cultural perpetuation of the Santa myth and the efforts of retailers. Even though we homeschool and don't watch much TV, even our kids are not immune from the frenzy of Christmas and the cultural expectation that the holiday is for receiving gifts. So as a parent, it is a tough situation to deal with. We do our best.
We try to talk to our kids throughout the season to remind them why we celebrate Christmas, to remind them that Santa Claus is a myth invented by retailers to sell more stuff, and to just enjoy each other's company. We give some gifts to the kids, but we try to not give many. We don't want that to be the main focus of the day. We try to do gifts at other times so as to not confuse our children about why we celebrate Christmas. Instead, we have a birthday party for Jesus. We cook together to have a special meal or two. We also make a special cake, which our kids like to decorate. We put a ton of candles on it because Jesus was born about 2000 years ago. We sing "Happy Birthday" to him and enjoy his cake. We play games. We take a walk at night to see the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. We drink hot cocoa to warm us up. We watch a fun Christmas movie at the end of the celebrations. It is an absolutely fun day. We don't just open a lot of presents, then spend the day apart with those presents. We spend the day together, which is a lot more meaningful.
One last thought I want to share with you about the season's frenzy of gift giving. Even if you aren't swayed by the harm done to our wallets or the perversion of a sacred religious holiday or the space/time/effort wasted on buying things people don't want, there is another reason why buying a lot of presents may not be the way to go.
In our modern culture, we've demanded access to a plethora of cheap consumer goods. These types of goods make up the bulk of holiday gift-giving. What we in the West don't often stop to consider is the high cost of making these cheap goods available for easy purchase. We may see the "made in China" or "made in Bangladesh" mark on the goods, but in our hectic lives, we may give that no thought. We should.
Workers in developing nations are leading lives of misery to make those goods for our markets. Some are so miserable in their dehumanizing work environments that they take their own lives: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/06/01/china.foxconn.inside.factory/.
Many are forced to work poverty wages in unsafe conditions. Some are modern day slaves, but others nominally agree to such conditions due to desperation in economies with few other options. Many are children.
I encourage you--with some trepidation--to look at the link below. It contains a heart-wrenching photo and article about the collapse in April of this year of a factory in Bangladesh. 1129 human beings died in that tragedy, and 2515 other human beings were injured. Some of us heard of the tragedy, but may have paid it little mind because of our busy lives and our feeling that we are powerless to help. Others may be unfamiliar with the story. Either way, I encourage you to consider the article and the photo. I encourage you to consider the human toll of the low prices for consumer goods we demand in our culture. The electronics, the clothes, the toys. Beyond what the frenzy does to our own finances and our souls, what about the people who produce these goods at the exploitively low prices we demand?
http://iacknowledge.net/the-most-powerful-image-youll-see-today/
This makes my husband and I sad. For a number of reasons. People are chasing things that in the end won't make them happy for more than a brief period at most. Meanwhile, they are doing destructive things like spending more than they should, incurring debt and foregoing spending on things with longer lasting value (e.g., retirement accounts, kids' college savings account). And to us, as people of faith, it is particularly upsetting that all this is done in the name of Jesus. The Prince of Peace was born in an animal stable as a peasant. It makes no sense to us to remember his birth by spoiling our children and exceeding our credit card limits.
So, I have a couple of thoughts to share that I hope might be particularly apropos and helpful this time of year.
For those who are Christ followers, I encourage you to re-focus on why we celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas, Christmas and Epiphany. The Advent Conspiracy movement is working hard to help us do that. Their website is: http://www.adventconspiracy.org/. It helps us to avoid the secular trappings of the season to celebrate in a manner that is more in line with our faith.
Another resource you might consider is the 2007 film What Would Jesus Buy? It was produced by Morgan Spurlock, a West Virginia filmmaker who came to prominence with the documentary Super Size Me. What Would Jesus Buy? is an odd film. It follows a band of (what I take to be) performance artists who assume the persona of a flamboyant preacher and his choir who travel the country in the days before Christmas preaching the gospel of the anti-materialism as the "Church of Stop Shopping." At times, What Would Jesus Buy? was someone offensive to me because they caricature my religion (or at least aspects of it) and seem to denigrate the sacred (like baptism). But I always try to keep an open mind and there were definitely parts of the film that were very engaging, and thought-provoking. I particularly found insightful the people interviewed about their attitudes towards Christmas. It made me very sad to hear so many express that the holiday was only about buying a lot of stuff. That alone I find spiritually vacuous, but what I found even more tragic was the attitudes of parents who expressed that they needed to move heaven and earth, do whatever was necessary to give their kids lots of stuff to open on Christmas Day. I don't even know how to express my profound sadness over such cultural perversion over a beautiful holiday with a very different meaning at its core.
In my opinion, the Advent Conspiracy and questioning our perversion of Christmas is much more fruitful that the effort by Focus on the Family and others to get retailers to use the phrase "Merry Christmas" instead of the more inclusive "Happy Holidays." I hold the birth of my Savior as sacred, and find it patently offensive when retailers exploit it to make money. As a Christian, I much prefer the broader term "holidays" to the more explicit exploitation of the birth of Jesus.
Here is something else. To some of you, this will seem really radical, but my husband and I have also never indoctrinated our children into the modern Santa Claus myth. We believe in being honest and don't want to ever give them reason to not trust us. We also don't want them to believe in magical fairies who dump lots of toys on well-behaved kids from affluent families but somehow don't stop at the homes of well-behaved kids from families with less income. And as people of faith, we don't want a mythical elf to compete in any way with Jesus Christ.
If you think this is an extreme approach to the Santa myth, I encourage you watch a wonderful, insightful documentary from A&E's Biography series on Santa Claus. It was first aired in 2005. The episode traces the roots of the Santa myth as a tool for modern retailers to the modern Hollywood deification of the character. As you watch the episode, you will begin to realize the term "deification" is not an exaggeration. One aspect of the episode that particularly got my attention was when one Hollywood interviewee described the modern concept of Santa Claus as like God for grown ups. Wow.
Even if you are not a Christian or if you are not a person of any faith, this time of year is still hectic and stressful. There are social customs in our country that make it quite a challenge to avoid over-spending. For years when we were younger, my husband and I felt the need to buy presents for so many people in our lives. As if there was some shame in not giving someone junk they didn't need and probably didn't want.
For years, I also didn't question all the stuff I was gifted. That was part of life. But after a while, I began to realize what a burden it was. I felt obligated to make room for stuff, even if I didn't like it. Someone had given it to me, it would be ungrateful to throw it out or give it away. My home became cluttered with stuff like that. I began to think of all the money we spend giving each other such gifts. And all the time we waste trying to figure out what to do with it when we receive it and the emotional energy we use feeling guilty that we really want to throw it out.
So, now our family gives few presents. We give presents to our kids--more on that in a minute. But few to adults or anyone outside our family. We agree with the notion of showing appreciation for all the nice folks who make our lives better throughout the year, but now we only give gifts that can be consumed. We enjoy baking once a year and we share that bounty with people whom we appreciate and want to thank. They can eat it or share it with someone else, but it is not going to take room on their shelves gathering dust until they get the gumption to throw it out. And if I say so myself, our baking is pretty good, so it is a treat to receive our cookies and muffins.
It is difficult for all of us this time of year, but it is particularly difficult for parents, in large part to the cultural perpetuation of the Santa myth and the efforts of retailers. Even though we homeschool and don't watch much TV, even our kids are not immune from the frenzy of Christmas and the cultural expectation that the holiday is for receiving gifts. So as a parent, it is a tough situation to deal with. We do our best.
We try to talk to our kids throughout the season to remind them why we celebrate Christmas, to remind them that Santa Claus is a myth invented by retailers to sell more stuff, and to just enjoy each other's company. We give some gifts to the kids, but we try to not give many. We don't want that to be the main focus of the day. We try to do gifts at other times so as to not confuse our children about why we celebrate Christmas. Instead, we have a birthday party for Jesus. We cook together to have a special meal or two. We also make a special cake, which our kids like to decorate. We put a ton of candles on it because Jesus was born about 2000 years ago. We sing "Happy Birthday" to him and enjoy his cake. We play games. We take a walk at night to see the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. We drink hot cocoa to warm us up. We watch a fun Christmas movie at the end of the celebrations. It is an absolutely fun day. We don't just open a lot of presents, then spend the day apart with those presents. We spend the day together, which is a lot more meaningful.
One last thought I want to share with you about the season's frenzy of gift giving. Even if you aren't swayed by the harm done to our wallets or the perversion of a sacred religious holiday or the space/time/effort wasted on buying things people don't want, there is another reason why buying a lot of presents may not be the way to go.
In our modern culture, we've demanded access to a plethora of cheap consumer goods. These types of goods make up the bulk of holiday gift-giving. What we in the West don't often stop to consider is the high cost of making these cheap goods available for easy purchase. We may see the "made in China" or "made in Bangladesh" mark on the goods, but in our hectic lives, we may give that no thought. We should.
Workers in developing nations are leading lives of misery to make those goods for our markets. Some are so miserable in their dehumanizing work environments that they take their own lives: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/06/01/china.foxconn.inside.factory/.
Many are forced to work poverty wages in unsafe conditions. Some are modern day slaves, but others nominally agree to such conditions due to desperation in economies with few other options. Many are children.
I encourage you--with some trepidation--to look at the link below. It contains a heart-wrenching photo and article about the collapse in April of this year of a factory in Bangladesh. 1129 human beings died in that tragedy, and 2515 other human beings were injured. Some of us heard of the tragedy, but may have paid it little mind because of our busy lives and our feeling that we are powerless to help. Others may be unfamiliar with the story. Either way, I encourage you to consider the article and the photo. I encourage you to consider the human toll of the low prices for consumer goods we demand in our culture. The electronics, the clothes, the toys. Beyond what the frenzy does to our own finances and our souls, what about the people who produce these goods at the exploitively low prices we demand?
http://iacknowledge.net/the-most-powerful-image-youll-see-today/
Monday, December 2, 2013
Post-Thanksgiving Thoughts
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was terrific. Probably one of the best I've ever had. I've reflected on why it was so good and I've come up with a couple reasons. Perhaps these points might be helpful to others gearing up for Christmas celebrations in a couple weeks.
(1) Limited Guest List. I take an inclusive view when it comes to celebrating. The more the merrier. I'd hate for anyone to not have someone to celebrate with. Gather everyone under one tent. No problem. Well, I still take an inclusive view, but thank goodness we ended up with just our immediate family plus two guests this year. When we've had multiple families sharing a holiday with us, just coordinating arrivals and departures to figure out meal times was a challenge. But with just the six of us, we enjoyed our guests without feeling overwhelmed at extreme entertaining.
(2) Scaled Back Menu. In the past, I felt obliged to have a ton of traditional dishes that cover the table such that my family and guests barely fit. It was chaotic trying to figure out how to cook everything in a single oven while the turkey took up all the space. I had to cook some things in advance then rewarm them at the last minute. Or cook things once the turkey was done and hope it didn't cool too much while we waited. I only made four dishes for this Thanksgiving. Very manageable. One I made completely in advance. And parts of another dish were cooked the day before, just had to be assembled the day of the feast.
(3) Scaled Back Entrée. One of my kids spilled the beans a couple years back that she and her father confessed to one another they didn't like turkey but didn't want to tell the rest of the family to avoid ruining our Thanksgiving. I was very annoyed. First, I don't believe in family secrets, even on mundane points. Second, I hate turkey too and kept making it for them! So, now the secret is out, we are liberated from having a traditional entrée that none of us wants. And frankly we don't eat a lot of meat. Part of our voluntary simplicity ethos! So we didn't just want to replace a big bird with another big hunk of meat. Instead, I decided to make enchiladas for the entrée, which we love and don't have very often. Yum-o! A real treat and so much easier, quicker to make. I didn't wake up early, but the big meal was ready way before noon. And to keep things semi-traditional, the other three dishes I made were pretty traditional so it felt like Thanksgiving and not just a nice dinner party.
(4) Potluck. I am no Martha Stewart, so I learned long ago to ask for help when entertaining. But if the guest list is unwieldy, even potluck becomes a logistical nightmare. One Christmas, I had a house full of hungry guests who had all brought side dishes, but the relative who was bringing the entrée ran late--very late. Some relatives had to start leaving before we had a complete meal to serve! But with two guests only, it was very manageable. I asked one to bring something for us to munch on while we were waiting for the meal, along with a salad. She bought several types of olives, which we put in a fancy dish. And she brought a salad kit that was fine. The other person brought dessert. He had made a trifle in advance, just had to assemble it when the time was right. My kids got to help, which they thoroughly enjoyed.
What a fun day! I didn't spend all day cooking. We had time to enjoy each other's company. We played board games and talked. And we had a real feast, but with a limited number of dishes, it wasn't overwhelming. We could take time to enjoy each dish. In the past, we've had so many dishes, you can't eat them all or if you do, you get just a taste because there is too much.
Happy holidays!
(1) Limited Guest List. I take an inclusive view when it comes to celebrating. The more the merrier. I'd hate for anyone to not have someone to celebrate with. Gather everyone under one tent. No problem. Well, I still take an inclusive view, but thank goodness we ended up with just our immediate family plus two guests this year. When we've had multiple families sharing a holiday with us, just coordinating arrivals and departures to figure out meal times was a challenge. But with just the six of us, we enjoyed our guests without feeling overwhelmed at extreme entertaining.
(2) Scaled Back Menu. In the past, I felt obliged to have a ton of traditional dishes that cover the table such that my family and guests barely fit. It was chaotic trying to figure out how to cook everything in a single oven while the turkey took up all the space. I had to cook some things in advance then rewarm them at the last minute. Or cook things once the turkey was done and hope it didn't cool too much while we waited. I only made four dishes for this Thanksgiving. Very manageable. One I made completely in advance. And parts of another dish were cooked the day before, just had to be assembled the day of the feast.
(3) Scaled Back Entrée. One of my kids spilled the beans a couple years back that she and her father confessed to one another they didn't like turkey but didn't want to tell the rest of the family to avoid ruining our Thanksgiving. I was very annoyed. First, I don't believe in family secrets, even on mundane points. Second, I hate turkey too and kept making it for them! So, now the secret is out, we are liberated from having a traditional entrée that none of us wants. And frankly we don't eat a lot of meat. Part of our voluntary simplicity ethos! So we didn't just want to replace a big bird with another big hunk of meat. Instead, I decided to make enchiladas for the entrée, which we love and don't have very often. Yum-o! A real treat and so much easier, quicker to make. I didn't wake up early, but the big meal was ready way before noon. And to keep things semi-traditional, the other three dishes I made were pretty traditional so it felt like Thanksgiving and not just a nice dinner party.
(4) Potluck. I am no Martha Stewart, so I learned long ago to ask for help when entertaining. But if the guest list is unwieldy, even potluck becomes a logistical nightmare. One Christmas, I had a house full of hungry guests who had all brought side dishes, but the relative who was bringing the entrée ran late--very late. Some relatives had to start leaving before we had a complete meal to serve! But with two guests only, it was very manageable. I asked one to bring something for us to munch on while we were waiting for the meal, along with a salad. She bought several types of olives, which we put in a fancy dish. And she brought a salad kit that was fine. The other person brought dessert. He had made a trifle in advance, just had to assemble it when the time was right. My kids got to help, which they thoroughly enjoyed.
What a fun day! I didn't spend all day cooking. We had time to enjoy each other's company. We played board games and talked. And we had a real feast, but with a limited number of dishes, it wasn't overwhelming. We could take time to enjoy each dish. In the past, we've had so many dishes, you can't eat them all or if you do, you get just a taste because there is too much.
Happy holidays!
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