31 Days: Live Intentional {Day 1} — Beginning Inspiration

“I began these pages for myself, in order to think out my own particular pattern of living, my own individual balance of life, work and human relationships. And since I think best with a pencil in my hand, I started naturally to write. I had the feeling, when the thoughts first clarified on paper, that my experience was very different from other people’s. (Are we all under this illusion?) My situation had, in certain ways more freedom than that of most people, and in certain other ways, much less.

Besides, I thought, not all women are searching for a new pattern of living, or want a contemplative corner of their own. Many women are content with their lives as they are. They manage amazingly well, far better that I, it seemed to me, looking at their lives from the outside. With envy and admiration, I observed the porcelain perfection of their smoothly ticking days. Perhaps they had no problems, or had found the answers long ago. No, I decided, these discussions would have value and interest only for myself.”

—The opening words penned by Ann Morrow Lindbergh in her Gift From the Sea. I love this book. It is one of my favorites. It’s the kind of book I need to read every year. The kind that makes me stop, and think. The kind that makes me reevaluate my everyday routines. The kind that makes me hunger for a simpler way of living—a more intentional life. But more often than not, reading (anything), stopping to think, evaluating routines of any sort, and more specifically, intentional living seems to elude my daily existence. It all gets pushed aside during the business of conventional, contemporary life.

This past spring helped to usher in three new chapters in my life—the one year anniversary of my Mother’s death, a new job, and a new favorite book. While those three may not seem to have much in common, they have, each in their own way, brought up a reoccurring word/theme. The word: Intentional. The theme: Live eucharisto—live thankful—live intentional

Two days ago, at Nesting Place, I stumbled across an invitation to 31 Days of Change. The challenge: blog for 31 days in a row. The concept, although scary & daunting, intrigued me as I’ve been meaning type out more of my stories and contemplations. Like Lindberg, writing helps to clarify my musings, but, unlike Lindberg, I’m worried about what I will have to say, or share—and that no one will give a rip roarin’ winkle. I have no sure-fire cohesive thoughts or ideas. I have no grandiose plans. I don’t have any concrete topics—other than what it will look like to explore completing a project—31 days in a row of something—ANYTHING. 31 one days of living intentionally. 31 days to write down thoughts and ideas. 31 days to explore a more substantial concept other than, “What am I going to cook for dinner?” 31 days to come up with a manifesto of a God-inspired, God-filled life. 31 days to be proactive. 31 days. 31 days.

Join me as I explore what it looks like to think/live intentionally. And, who knows, maybe at the end I’ll be able to say:

“But as I went on writing and simultaneously talking with other women, young and old, with different lives and experiences—those who supported themselves, those who wished careers, those who were hard-working housewives and mothers, and those with more ease—I found that my point of view was not unique. In varying settings and under different forms, I discovered that many women, and men, too, were grappling with essentially the same questions as I, and were hungry to discuss and argue and hammer out possible answers. Even those whose lives had appeared to be ticking imperturbably under their smiling clock-faces were often trying, like me, to evolve another rhythm with more creative pauses in it, more adjustment to their individual needs, and new and more alive relationships to themselves as well as others.”

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Tagged as: 31 Days, coping, dreams, Gift From the Sea, grief, hope, Inspiration, Live Intentional, my mom, One Thousand Gifts