Okay, I'll admit it. I like a schedule. I like plans. I like to see a calendar neatly printed with all of the details of life, carefully fit into clean little boxes on the page. It gives me a sense of order, accomplishment, comfort.
This has been in my blood for quite some time, I am now starting to realize. A recent water leak in my parents' basement forced me to go through a box of Jr. High/High School memories that probably were better off sealed in cardboard and tape. Some old notes, assignments, letters and pictures ended up in the trash... {and oh my gosh, those were the things I obsessed over as a 14 year old? Yikes! Now I am seriously worried about my children's eventual teen years} ... but one thing that couldn't be trashed was the realization that who I am today has been a slow evolution {marked by a few critical points of drastic change} over the years. In that box, I found my little black/brown/blue pocket calendars, filled to the brim with my activities (wow, I was active in everything), schedules, practices, games, homework, socialization. I guess I have always taken comfort in details -- neatly printed, ordered, organized, listed. It is something I now do for 8 hours a day at work -- so much of my job is organizing, ordering, correcting and checking the details. Everything is planned out, literally to the exact second. That is why breaking news is such a thrill, such an exhilaration -- you can't plan. You can't detail. You can't sort. You simply must trust your instincts and go. (In some ways my business is such a contradiction.)
So this summer has been no exception, when it comes to my organizational scheduling. The boxes on my clean, neat calendar have been filled with activities for me, the kids, the family. I like that. I like to be busy. I like to have things to do. I like to know what is coming next. I envy those people who can accept every moment for what it is, enjoy each new surprise without wondering where it came from or where it is going, feel excitement about the entirely unknown. Maybe its because I can too easily fall into a slump of just sitting and doing nothing that I feel the need to overschedule, overplan, overorganize, overproduce. If I am not busy, I'm not sure what I should do with myself. I am a "J" through and through (for those of you familiar with Myers-Briggs.) This is, of course, the reason why I fell in love with and decided to marry a man who is my complete opposite on this character trait. He reminds me to live, to feel, to enjoy, to love, to just be. (Although I have a little less successful at getting him claim my organizational traits... hey, opposites attract, right?)
So. The Summer. Busy. Eventful. Active. Scheduled. But yes, still plenty of time for frivolous play. Fun. Relaxation. The summer (so far) may have felt like it has been one constant motion, but I think the kids like it that way.
Look for a few updates soon on my neatly ordered, categorized and planned out summer in the days to come!
(Note: Despite my love of complete organizational balance, my house has never fully reflected this. I can be a slob. I can let laundry sit for weeks. I can grow science projects in some old tupperware in the fridge. I can lose important things like birth certificates and school field trip permission slips, yet know exactly where to find something I never need. Sigh. I guess I'm just selective in my anal retentiveness.)
This has been in my blood for quite some time, I am now starting to realize. A recent water leak in my parents' basement forced me to go through a box of Jr. High/High School memories that probably were better off sealed in cardboard and tape. Some old notes, assignments, letters and pictures ended up in the trash... {and oh my gosh, those were the things I obsessed over as a 14 year old? Yikes! Now I am seriously worried about my children's eventual teen years} ... but one thing that couldn't be trashed was the realization that who I am today has been a slow evolution {marked by a few critical points of drastic change} over the years. In that box, I found my little black/brown/blue pocket calendars, filled to the brim with my activities (wow, I was active in everything), schedules, practices, games, homework, socialization. I guess I have always taken comfort in details -- neatly printed, ordered, organized, listed. It is something I now do for 8 hours a day at work -- so much of my job is organizing, ordering, correcting and checking the details. Everything is planned out, literally to the exact second. That is why breaking news is such a thrill, such an exhilaration -- you can't plan. You can't detail. You can't sort. You simply must trust your instincts and go. (In some ways my business is such a contradiction.)
So this summer has been no exception, when it comes to my organizational scheduling. The boxes on my clean, neat calendar have been filled with activities for me, the kids, the family. I like that. I like to be busy. I like to have things to do. I like to know what is coming next. I envy those people who can accept every moment for what it is, enjoy each new surprise without wondering where it came from or where it is going, feel excitement about the entirely unknown. Maybe its because I can too easily fall into a slump of just sitting and doing nothing that I feel the need to overschedule, overplan, overorganize, overproduce. If I am not busy, I'm not sure what I should do with myself. I am a "J" through and through (for those of you familiar with Myers-Briggs.) This is, of course, the reason why I fell in love with and decided to marry a man who is my complete opposite on this character trait. He reminds me to live, to feel, to enjoy, to love, to just be. (Although I have a little less successful at getting him claim my organizational traits... hey, opposites attract, right?)
So. The Summer. Busy. Eventful. Active. Scheduled. But yes, still plenty of time for frivolous play. Fun. Relaxation. The summer (so far) may have felt like it has been one constant motion, but I think the kids like it that way.
Look for a few updates soon on my neatly ordered, categorized and planned out summer in the days to come!
(Note: Despite my love of complete organizational balance, my house has never fully reflected this. I can be a slob. I can let laundry sit for weeks. I can grow science projects in some old tupperware in the fridge. I can lose important things like birth certificates and school field trip permission slips, yet know exactly where to find something I never need. Sigh. I guess I'm just selective in my anal retentiveness.)
1 comment:
oh my, you just described me...selective anal retentiveness.
yikes.
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