Monday, January 4, 2010

Systems

fabric stash

I am someone who does well with structure. I am not someone who does a good job creating or maintaining that structure, however, which is a problem since no one else is going to do it for me. I crave order and simplicity, yet it's hard for me to motivate myself do the work to keep order. Basically, I lack discipline.

The good news is that the beginning of the year always gives me a jump start. Not sure why this arbitrary date works, perhaps it's akin to a placebo effect, but I'll take it.

There's been a lot going on both in my house and in my head the past few weeks. I've been creating systems that, I hope, will make it easier for me to stay on track. The falling-down piles of fabric have been replaced by neatly rolled and tied bundles; all the random bags of flour, grains, beans, and nuts purchased from the bulk bins are now labeled in glass jars. And after years of resisting, I've started implementing a meal plan for dinner (this was actually prompted by discovering that our groceries cost us $3000 more in 2009 than in 2008!).

As for my head, there's a fair amount of change going on there as well. I love to always have projects going, the more the better. In the past 2 years I've taken on learning French, our France house-swap, learning to sew, starting this blog, launching an Etsy site, and our trip to Japan, to name a few. I'm still sewing and blogging, but I'm craving something new. Some new way to stretch myself, especially since I think work will be slow coming this year. I'm not sure what that is right now, but I'll keep you posted!

I don't know… I just have a sense that this is going to be a different type of year for me. One that requires a little more thought and planning. One where having the structure I crave firmly in place will help in dealing with all the elements I can't control.

What about you? I'd love to hear what's motivating you these days. What are your feelings about how 2010 is going to be different for you?

1 comment:

La famille Fabulet-Roberts said...

Hello Julie,

You actually just wrote exactly what I am feeling. I feel 2010 might be different but I also feel that I need to make some things happen. There are also some "pieges" I don't want to fall in... I would love to talk with you (in French, and please don't say your French is rusty-I like to help people improve their French) at Albina press, maybe? WE are moving to Woodlawn neighborhood at the end of January. We are closer!