A year half over or half to go…

I think I speak for us all when I say that I cannot believe it’s June!! The weather in London the past couple days actually reminds me a bit of Oxnard with the June gloom. I kind of feel like I’m already staring December in the face and I don’t like that. Yet I know that the remainder of this year is already looking a few shades brighter than the past six so I’ll do my best to drop the reservations and embrace the possibilities.

I thought that this would be a good time to revisit those ‘resolutions‘ I made earlier on in the year to see how we’re progressing. To recap, I decided to pursue the following in 2010: Fun, creativity, relationships, less time online, Shalom, a haircut & real job, and finally, reading more. So how has the first half of twenty-ten faired?

1. Having fun: Well as I mentioned, I applied for a sweet job at The Fun Fed, went through a two-hour audition playing games and acting like a buffoon, and I didn’t manage to secure a post as a facilitator. However, the group was generous enough to give me a year membership to attend any session at any time for free. I’ve only had that come through in the past couple weeks and haven’t taken advantage of it yet but you know I will! It’s funny actually since writing that resolution and feeling it very strongly, that life has changed so much with some things dying. Yet people have come through with one resounding word of wisdom: Have fun. It’s wild that God would be instructing us to do this in life during this time and what a great bit of guidance to be given to follow! We’re working on it and hope to enjoy an even funner end to 2010.

2. Creativity: Well I’ve not done the best job with this since the whirlwind of activity that began the year off. But since setting my mind to complete a few crafty tasks before… well, we’ll get to that later… I’ve managed to do quite a bit of creating in the past week. I’m tuning into the rhythms of my body more with this as well, which I’ll blog about in the near future, and this is very helpful in creating and not becoming frustrated if it just isn’t happening. Current project: working on a skirt I bought that was wayyy too small and customising some shoes.

3.  Relationships: Why is this such a struggle in London!? It’s freakish in a city of 10 million to not be able to get together with people regularly! Yet with the understanding that it is difficult and it’s not just us, I think we’re managing to tackle that one fairly well. One way of marrying resolutions 1 and 3 is to have people around weekly. We’ve been hosting wine and cheese parties, breakfast cereal-athons, film nights, all in an attempt to welcome people to our space and to have fun and build relationships. As we’re still struggling financially, it’s still difficult as most people are accustomed to going out rather than having people over, but we’re managing to do a bit more on that front, thankfully.

4. Less time online: Fail. Between escapism, looking for work, looking for a new flat, and trying to keep in touch with folks back home, this has not worked. And clearly I’ve not been blogging very well. Yet, there are still six months with which to work on number 4!

5. Shalom: While I’m more aware of the pursuit for Shalom, I can’t say that I’m implementing the necessary practices to see it happen. I know that spending time meditating, reading and in contemplative prayer are requirements to see this happen in my life and I’m crap at these things. I still need a rhythm in life which has been difficult to find with everything being up in the air. Yet, as we’ll see in the following point, that rhythm is coming… so hopefully too will the Shalom.

6. Get a haircut and a real job: Well the haircut would probably get a gigantic wince from hairstylists around the world, but I have managed a new style between Rob’s and my endeavours to trim my do. The exciting part B of this point however is the real job! I begin my first ‘real job’ on the 21st of the month with the Speak Network. I’m so excited and it just feels so incredibly right. It also allows us the freedom to move to a larger flat outside of Camden, which we can’t flee quickly enough these days. I cannot possibly begin to tell you what a blessing it is to have this provision! Thank you Jesus!!!

7.  Reading more: In direct opposition to point 4, I’ve spent far too much time reading online, but most has been in an applaudable effort to learn things, which has been successful. I’ve managed to get a few books under me though, including the long read Eyeless in Gaza by Aldous Huxley and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. I’m presently planning on finishing by next week Making Room by Christine Pohl  about Christian hospitality practices. That one keeps kicking me in the gut it’s so freaking good yet challenging.

So yeah, I guess it’s good that there’re still six months ahead with which to engage these resolutions more fully. I think with number six accomplished, the other six will be more easy to achieve and I look forward to that happening. 2010, may it live up to its reputation of the year of fun!

2010 and already a month gone by!

Leave it to me to find a quality way of sending out 2009 with a bang- or rather a crunch! Rob and I were in California, 8 hours behind Big Ben, and I was shopping at a particular strip-mall in my hometown. Just before heading into the shop I noticed that it was about quarter to 4 in the afternoon and that our friends in London would be ringing in the new year in just minutes.

I headed into the store, didn’t find what I wanted, walked back out and carefully put the car into reverse. I was backing out like nobody’s granny (overly cautious not having driven in the last 15 months) under the watchful eye of my husband as well when all of a sudden I find myself engaged with a gentleman’s passenger door. Happy New Year I tell you. Thankfully insurance covered it all and nobody seemed too bothered, aside from yours truly who was and still am quite convinced he was at fault for driving too quickly. Eight hours later we celebrated our own new years in the safety of my mom’s home, cozy with lots of food to munch.

If you’ve followed my blog you’ll know that last year was a struggle. I’m content to see it leave it’s dusty footprints on the way out and looking forward to getting dug into 2010. Having only returned from our trip the first week of February it seems like we’ll have an 11 month year rather than the traditional 12. Fine by me.

I’m in the process of resolving some things. I’m not into resolutions because I don’t have the resolve to stick to a year’s worth of rules and don’ts just because ‘they’ say you should make them. Yet I am aware of the great opportunity to make things different in returning to London after a good deal of time away. If only I hadn’t been fighting a terrible cold for 3 weeks once we returned I might have made a better start of this. But nevertheless I’m going to start a rough sort of list of things I’m intending on for 2010 and beyond.

1. Having fun. I love fun. I’ve never been particularly un-fun. But I think my fun was spoiled last year and this year I refuse to give up my fun and I’m going to look at ways of creating fun every day. At least every week anyways. As a matter of fact, I’ve already applied for a fun job- playing games with adults (www.thefunfed.com)!

2. Creating. Not only will I create fun but I will make many more things- baked goods, meals, needlepoint, clothing, furniture, photos, things for the house, and a whole lot more. I’ve got off to a decent start having turned Rob’s old leopard print laptop case into a cushion, framed a pic we brought back from Venice Beach, begun a needlepoint project with dear ol’ Frankenstein and the phrase ‘What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger’, and I’ve cooked homemade soup nearly every night for a few weeks. I’ve altered some clothing that’s been on the back burner for a while and I’ve got a jewelery project waiting for my attention on behalf of a friend.

3. Relationships. I majored in marine biology partly due to the fact that I’d rather hang out with fish who can’t complain and get all complicated on you. Clearly God has other plans for me and wants people and all their complexities and dirt and wonderful goodness to rub off on me. And I think I’m feeling more prepared to get dirty, with the help of both numbers 1 and 2. I am determined to make this work come riches or poverty!

4. Spend less time online. EnergySuckingLifeDrainingTimeConsumingMachineOfEvil. I love the internet but I spend half my time on it doing jack squat. I check my email wayyyyy too much, act as if Facebook is the ‘real world’, and just lose out on a lot of 1, 2, and 3 as a result of being online too much. I need restrictions. See my previous blog post on the matter.

5. Find Shalom. As stated a couple posts back I’m really aching for some serious shalom to park itself in the centre of my life. I want to learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I want to live freely and lightly. All this is found with the Divine Him and within my enhanced relationships. I’m endeavoring to do the Prayer of Examen every night for Lent in an attempt to evaluate my day’s successes and failures so that time doesn’t swish by so quickly and so that I can find that place of rest each day.

6. Get a haircut and get a real job. Why yes I did just use a George Thorogood song there… my apologies if that offends your musical sensibilities. I have, in fact, owned the cassette single of that song in my lifetime. Yikes. Anyways, yes I need a job to maintain my haircut, my household, my social life, to care for the people I love (the known and the stranger), to help my church grow, and to get out of friggin debt. If you’re hiring, I’m really lovely, quite employable, and fairly desperate.

7. Read more. There’s an awesome bookshop here called Daunt’s. There’s one up by Hampstead Heath that I love because of it’s location especially. Their books are all arranged by world region, as it use to be a travel bookstore but now it hosts other literature as well. I said when I first moved to the area that I’d like to some day read one book from each section at Daunt’s. I got about half way through Notes from the Underground by Russian author Dostoyevsky but it was a bit too bleak for me so I need to get back on that bandwagon. And armed with my library card I don’t see why not. Presently I’m reading Eyeless in Gaza by Aldous Huxley. I can’t say I’m making my way through it too speedily but I’m going to stick with it.

I’m sure that I could add several more to that list but seven seems like a really good number and a great start for the year (off the top of my head I could easily add ‘drink more wine’ to that list!). I welcome suggestions on crafty projects, recipes, good books, activities to do with friends, people with money to give/pay me, and just general hellos and relational type greetings of the interweb and non-interweb sort :0) Have a great year!!

Tea Towl image: dollarstorecrafts.com