May thoughts + recap

Each time we get to the end of a month, I find myself talking about how fast this year is going. It’s always interesting to me how slowly the first three months creep by and then suddenly it’s almost June! May was busy yet slow, hard but fun, uncomfortable yet relaxing. I visited my family in Pittsburgh the first weekend and spent time with my parents, brother, grandparents, a few cousins and my aunt and uncle. The second weekend I stayed in Virginia (celebrated Mother’s day from afar) and went to brunch with Josh’s parents.

I already blogged about my time with two of my best friends, which happened the third weekend of the month. Last weekend, I was in VA with Josh — we saw a movie, went to dinner, sat by the pool, read, ate, (I) painted, and had a pretty mellow Memorial Day.

I think it’s really easy to look at your month and measure it by what you did and who you were with each weekend. And compare your activity to what everyone else appears to be doing. And it’s fine to keep track of where you go and who you see (that’s partly why I have this blog!), but I’m learning more and more of the beauty in finding value in mundane, little things that happen day-to-day.

Here were some of my favorite moments this month, and they happened mostly when I was alone.

• On the morning of Memorial Day, I painted a watercolor wreath that I really loved. (And then practiced a little more.)

• On a Saturday afternoon, I drove to a flower market and smelled, photographed and admired all the beautiful flowers.

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• On a Tuesday morning, I got off the metro one stop farther from my office to enjoy the weather and passed these flowers.

• On a Friday evening, I watched a 15 minute Youtube video on how to build a flower arrangement for $15 using bouquets from Trader Joe’s. Then I drove to pick up a few flowers and a $6 vase from TJ Maxx and assembled my own.

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• On a Tuesday evening, I participated in my first live webinar (you can watch the replay!) about the space between grace and legalism in gentle nutrition with Aubrey from Grace-Fueled Nutrition.

I’ve been waking up earlier to write in my prayer journal or enjoy a homemade cappuccino before work. On the days I work remotely, I often go for a light jog-run-walk and admire the trees near my apartment. These are incredibly simple things, but they’re bringing me more joy, I think, because I’m allowing them to.

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I mentioned in my april recap that I listened to a podcast with Bob Goff. In that podcast, the host asked him what he wanted to be known for when his life is all said and done. He said three things:

Amazed

Engaged

Available

I love that so much. I want to be amazed at a fresh vase of flowers or the sun shining in each morning or a delicious cappuccino. I want to be engaged in my conversations at work, at home or on the phone. And I want to be available — for a talk, a drive, a dinner or a listen.

It’s hard to make space to be amazed, engaged and available if we’re constantly running from one place to the next or trying to use our measuring stick to see if we’re doing as well as everyone else. Yes, ambitions and goals are important and I’m not saying to do away with those.

But I think we need to make space to be amazed, engaged and available — even on a Tuesday, in your home, when it’s so tempting not to be.