Monday, February 22, 2010

Memoir Monday ~ What You Wish You'd Known

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How about a fun Memoir Monday?

When you look back on your life, what are a few things you wish you'd known to pay more attention to? You realize, of course, that someone in your life tried (hard!) to tell you, but you were young and not willing to listen. Okay, that's me anyway.

Here's a few to get you started:

1. Exercise more.

2. Eat healthier. Notice those first sneaky pounds piling on. Let's include here all those things you know you should have been doing...wearing sunscreen, getting enough sleep, and staying away from addictive substances like Dr Pepper....

3. Be money smart. Save more, spend less, work smarter.

4. Pursue dreams with greater passion and hard work and less by daydreaming for a big break.

5. Live with less fear. What's the worst thing that could happen?

6. Savor parenting more. Be stricter with my sons. Enjoy them more. Don't let the frustrations ever outweigh the delights.

7. Keep up with photo scrapbooking. The boxes of loose photos I have speak volumes. It's overwhelming to think about and a crying shame we can't enjoy our own photo memories. It's a double shame when you consider every photo leaving my studio was either in a frame, a folder, or an album. Beautiful. I wish I'd taken the time to treat my own personal photos with an equal amount of respect. Someday was what I always told myself.

8. Keep a journal of my son's cute sayings and antics. True, there's some things you never forget, but the older I get the more swiss cheesy my memory gets. Capture precious moments and write down family stories.

9. Hug people I love more. They may not be there tomorrow. Send more thoughtfully written cards telling people how much they mean to me.

10. Live more artistically. Be truer to my 'vision' and taste and less blown by winds of trends and fashions. Be more true to my creative soul.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Post your list on your blog and link back to here..and mention your blog addy in the comments below.

Profound or silly...I can't wait to read them.

1 Other Creative Souls are Saying:

Anonymous said...

Hi DebMc, haven't read anything new here from you in quite a while -- Hope you're alright; thought it would take something seriously bad happening in your life to stop your blogging.

I've been thinking about this post for some time, and I again am struck by your ability to wish for conformity (being stricker with your kids) and individuality (being truer to your vision) at the same time.

Maybe I've stumbled onto a key distinction -- Could it be that you desire conformity for others in your life (kids, churchmembers, etc.) while longing for artistic freedom (non-conformity) for yourself?

This occurs to me because in my own life, it's the non-conformers that sap my energy by doing something other than the human norm, coloring outside the lines of what I could reasonably expect, so to speak. It really drains me to pick the pieces, and clean up the mess other people's "visions" bring to my life.

Of course, all the while, while I'm artistically coloring outside my boxes, I'm leaving chaos in my own wake, so I've been recently told. Been a bit of de-flocking, I think you called it, in my life.

Thus my key distinction about a desired conformity in others while wanting artistic freedom for myself. --Jan