More And Less

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Hi! I hope you all had a good Monday. I took my daughter to preschool this morning only to realize it was teacher in service day. It’s been that kind of a Monday (I’m also posting this quite a few hours later than I normally do). Well anyway, a few weeks ago I came across this article in the NYT and saved it to re-read. I liked it so much, and it made me think so much about my own lifestyle, that I wanted to share. You can read the article (it’s not too long) but essentially it asks you to draw out what you’d like more of, and less.

The image above is from the NYT. Although, a lot of these are mine too (which just leads me to believe I’m someone who’s personality is being shaped by the NYT, which is not necessarily desirable). BUT. Some of my thoughts:

I want less of:

Social media: Because it’s a waste of time, a lot of the time. And not real. I’ve weaned myself quite a bit from Instagram actually. But Twitter is still an addiction!

Weighing myself: Our kids messed up our digital scale months ago by what I suspect is jumping, and I don’t miss it. I’ll just buy bigger pants.

Guilt: In general, although I struggle with this one. Because sometimes guilt is good, and is telling us something. But I’d like to have less guilt for random stuff that is making my life easier (lots of takeout food, paying for convenience, etc)…less guilt for forgetting stuff, for not being on top of everything, for little mistakes.

Bras: Just like above. Yes. Not to be TMI but I like fall as increased layering means I don’t have to wear a bra. Ha.

I want more:

Reading. It’s been drastically cut down lately…although last night I stayed up until 3 AM reading. So! I’ll make a confession – some weeks I’ll read quite a few books, maybe 2-3, and then the weeks when I’ve been slow I can use one of those for my “Weekend Update” recs.

Time with friends. More and more I remember what it’s like to have dinner with friends, or a coffee where you really laugh and that great feeling after where you want it to continue.

Closet items that make me feel good. And happy when I wear them. Some fun colors maybe. Accessories with good memories.

Travel. I’d like to go somewhere. But I debated whether I should put this in the less column, because I think sometimes I used travel as a distraction earlier, and the wastefulness of all that plane travel, and oh. This is still something to work through.

Patience: Especially with my children. It isn’t their fault we are going into year two of Covid and in many ways they are the ones suffering most from it. I want to be kinder, and more patient.

Man, this was almost like a therapy session! But it was useful, and helpful. I’d really encourage you all to do it (if you have time) and then I’d ask, what do you want more and less of?