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My early morning routine: the Word and some patchwork.
Slow and Steady
One of my greatest flaws is two-pronged—I have a very hard time being consistent, forming habits, getting into a routine; and when I am consistent, habitual, or routine, it takes very little to knock me out of my groove and monumental effort to get me back into it. If you have been reading this column for very long, you know there are times when it fails to appear here in this paper—those are the times I have gotten off-track.
At my house, we have begun our business’s busy season. It is really convenient that the commencement of busy season coincides with what was traditionally back-to-school time. For many of us, late August to early September is even more about fresh starts than is January 1. We feel an almost instinctual urge to go buy some new clothes, pencils, notebooks, and then start getting up earlier and eating a healthy breakfast.
I have channeled some of my new beginnings energy into two new daily routines. First, I started another Bible-in-a-year round. After I finished the last one in December, I had told myself I would take a year off, but I have been missing it and then my friend decided she wanted to start the plan. She got exactly one day ahead of me before I gave in and started. Now I have enlisted pretty much all of my family and some of my friends to read along together. I quickly discovered that having other people on the same track keeps me on track. Plus, I realized that reading takes, at most, 15 minutes every morning— minutes I would normally spend watching silly animal videos on my phone.
The second routine is to complete at least one handappliquéd quilt block every day. Six years ago I started sewing a circle of fabric to a background with a light-colored neutral print. The original plan was to do one a day for a year for 365 blocks. That number of the size block I am doing is just about right for a queensized quilt, which is the size I sleep on. Let me clear up that I know myself entirely too well to have thought I would stick with that one-block-a-day plan for long. My project kit is a rusty old tackle box which has gone everywhere with me. Around the first of September, I got my box out, reorganized it, and assessed my progress. I had exactly 100 blocks finished which left me with ONLY 265 to go! I think if I keep up the current pace, one to three circles a day, I can be finished by my birthday in February, or maybe even Christmas!
What I am learning is that as good as it feels to finish a big project, having these small daily accomplishments leading up to a distant big finish feels really good, too. I will freely admit that not spending as much time mindlessly scrolling on my phone is a bonus. That makes two psychic benefits right off the top, just like a daily vitamin for my heart and mind! Lordy, I can use all the help I can get! How about you? SpringCreek-ArtsGuild@gmail.com