I’m not sure if I’ve ever shared this here before, but I have a quote on my computer desktop that I look at almost every single day. I think it describes how I feel really well.
“But we live through the fine days without noticing them; only when we fall on evil ones do we wish to have back the former. With sour faces we let a thousand bright and pleasant hours slip by unenjoyed and afterwards vainly sigh for their return when times are trying and depressing. Instead of this, we should cherish every present moment that is bearable, even the most ordinary, which with such indifference we now let slip by, and even with impatience push on.”
Life is too frickin’ short. End of story. I had to ask myself (and this is an ongoing thing, really) how can I make sure it doesn’t all slip away without my noticing?
On November 20, 2009 I started taking one photo every day. I first wrote about it here, and I’m not sure if anyone knew this but they’ve been quietly posted on this page as well as on my Flickr (almost) every day. Sometimes I tweeted a favourite. Usually I didn’t. I’m not about the hubbub. :)
I called it a visual autobiography – a calendar of sorts – and I as look back on all those photos I realize that description still rings very true for me. I don’t know when it’s going to end exactly, but I do know this… it’s going to end when it stops being fun.
It’s been an interesting project. I missed a few days here and there, but I’m not beating myself up about it. I have to say, I love looking back. It’s reminded me to stop and be mindful of both the big and small things that are going on around me – whether they are beautiful or utterly mundane.
I cleaned it up a bit the other day and I thought someone would like to see what it all looks like to date. Here it is, in slideshow format. Or you can just look at the whole shebang on one page.
Some faves:
That’s exactly what Dr. Freedhoff (of Weighty Matters fame) said when I picked up the phone. He was the reason why The National was at my house the other day. (First written about here, and in a frazzled post here.)
I hardly know where to begin.
I will summarize our conversation thusly: the good news is that our family is healthy. The bad news is that our family has been deemed too healthy for national news. I spoke to the producer of the segment this afternoon, who, in fact, told me we were all “skinny.” The story they’re illustrating is about how, as a society, we’re (a) eating more and (b) the stuff we’re eating isn’t that great. The story really isn’t “what Canadians are eating” as I had understood. If the story was truly about what Canadians are eating they’d also be talking to families in different socio-economic groups from each coast… from Iqaluit (caribou steaks and fries anyone?) as well as Vancouver and PEI and somewhere in the middle. I thought the story was going to follow three families and what they ate, and then Dr. Freedhoff was going to swoop in and assess.
We’re not perfect, far from it, but I would have liked to make a point (one that needs to be made!) that parents CAN cook healthy meals from scratch for their families. We CAN focus on whole foods instead of junk foods. We CAN do it and it doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming. What we need to do is shift our priorities and focus on our health. Do you agree? Disagree?
I am not angry, just a little disappointed that we’ve ended up on the cutting room floor at this late stage in the game. But I do take comfort in the fact that we seem to be doing it right. Dr. Freedhoff has kindly agreed to look at our family food log anyway. I’m not sure what he’s going to say, because I’ve already been told it’s not very dramatic and won’t make for very good television. :)
Oy. When I think about all that time I spent measuring and weighing our food! And the time we spent with the cameraman and the reporter. AND MY POOR CLOSETS.
So. I have a digital kitchen scale to give away to one random Ottawa family. Who wants it? :)
I said I wasn’t going to blog about our 25 Days, but I have a feeling I am going to find it hard to resist. I won’t be blogging every day – just here and there. I don’t want to add anymore stress to my life this month and I don’t think anyone really wants to hear Every Single Detail of Our Lives.
So today was day one! The girls left for school without opening their envelope, which was fine because I had to switch it out for something else at the last minute. Also, now that they’re older, I’m going to rewrite the activites so they’re more like riddles. I want to keep them guessing.
Anyway, I thought I’d make it easy on myself and ease into our advent activities this year with a special after-dinner treat for the girls. They had a whole cup of mini-marshmallows (with some homemade hot chocolate poured on top) as well as a gingerbread man I bought from Second Cup today. He tasted as good as he looks.
–
This post is part of our 2010 Family Advent, a.k.a 25 Days of Christmas. You can read more about that here.
