Unencumbered Perspective

I liked the post on Periphery so much, that I decided I should have a year of the "word" myself.  I spent a good part of today letting words bounce off the walls in the back of my mind.  I had a good start because of what I read in the comment section of S.'s post.  I thought about words like 'freedom' and 'change' and 'health', but they all kind of felt like resolutions. 
Because I have a tendency to get inside my own head and go a little crazy, I started thinking about what life would look like this year if I lived like nothing was weighing me down.  I often encumber myself, adding stressors and expectations that I shouldn't be worried about.  Even when no one expects anything of me, I put something on my own self.  I am the car wreck of overachiever meets procrastinator. 
So 'unencumbered' sounds really good.  I need to shake off some extra weight.  Literally and figuratively.  And, for this post, we'll just focus on the figurative.
I kept thinking... feeling like unencumbered felt too light.  Like I needed to further define what in my life I wanted "unencumbered".  I started imagining myself quitting my job, aimlessly flitting here and there, and feeling entirely too content about sitting around and doing nothing.  A scary and wasted year.  And I can't afford to quit my job.  I need to remain somewhat "encumbered" this year!
So, I thought back over the last year and the things that caused my meltdowns and mild panic attacks and ramblings and rants.  It usually boiled down to allowing myself to be overwhelmed and drowned by silly things.  Things that didn't count and would dissolve like Alkaseltzer, if I would take the time to take one.  I was busy looking down and all around instead of looking up.  I needed to check my perspective...
That's it!  Unencumbered perspective. 
So.  We'll see.  I guarantee more rambles and crazy talk.  I guarantee moments of insanity.  But, I want to do a better job of unencumbering my perspective.  I Googled it.  I'm not the first person to put the two together.  Darn.

Comments

  1. TangledLouJanuary 5, 2012 at 11:29 PM

    Don't ever Google your brilliant ideas. If you thought of it on your own, it's yours. :) I think unencumbered perspective is fantastic! I wish you the best in working toward that this year. When you figure out how to do it, let me know! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. SarahJanuary 6, 2012 at 11:30 AM

    I picked a word this year too: resolve. Both in the verb form - as there are a few things I need to resolve; and as a noun - because I need to hold firm to my resolve in a couple areas. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  3. NicoleJanuary 7, 2012 at 11:26 PM

    @ Sarah - I like resolve! That's a good one. And smart to pick the verb and noun.
    @ S. Thank you! I have this love/hate relationship with Google. Need to work on that!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Taylor @ Pink Heels Pink TruckJanuary 8, 2012 at 12:36 PM

    I've enjoyed reading people's words for 2012. Prayers for a fruitful, unencumbered perspective in 2012!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Masked MomJanuary 8, 2012 at 5:10 PM

    Don't let your perspective be encumbered by anything you Google. ;)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Despicable Shadow Puppets

Image
We watched Despicable Me today.  At the end, when they do the shadow puppets I had an idea.  I remember when I was little that my mom went through this silhouette phase in her artwork and made us kids pose for silhouettes.  I didn't like my own silhouette, even as a child. I also remember loving to do shadow puppets, and the very few times my mom would get out the old projector to show us slides, we would ask to have time with just the light on the sheet so we could play shadow puppets.  So my brilliant idea today, since we use a projector to watch movies instead of having a big, expensive TV taking up space, was to pause on a good spot and let the kids pose.  Here is what we came up with.  Not without a little begging and pleading on my end!  Two bunnies hopping towards a duck   Two ducks quacking at a bunny   Butterfly   Guy with mohawk   First shadow puppet ever...not sure what she is going fo...
Read more

Peanut Butter and Bananas

Growing up, my favorite sandwich in the world (when it came to peanut butter at least), was a peanut butter and brown sugar sandwich.  Crunchy peanut butter made it better.  My best friend's favorite sandwich was peanut butter, banana, and honey. "Gross!" I said. "Gross!" she said.  We both agreed that we wouldn't know until we tried it.  So, one day in her kitchen, we made our favorite sandwiches.  She sliced her bananas as I wrinkled up my nose.  I sprinkled brown sugar as she looked nervously at me from the corner of her eye.  We presented one another with our beloved sandwiches.  We had to try.  To understand one another a little better.  Just one bite... That's all it took.  And we switched right back.  She finished hers, and I finished mine.  Right now, I am sitting on the couch eating a frozen banana with peanut butter drizzled on top.  It is amazing.  Who would have thought that over twent...
Read more

Real Bread. The Second Half.

Image
For the first half of this story, check out this post .  I am following my version of a multigrain bread recipe from Mother Earth News . Whew.  This was way harder than throwing stuff in the bread machine.  So we ended last time with the soakers soaking and the sponges hanging out in the fridge. I took step by step pictures so that I could write less  provide a better visual guideline.  Well, almost step by step.  I couldn't some of the time because my hands were all gooey or had oven mitts or flour on them.  You understand... So, first I took out the sponges and let them get to room temperature.  I matched up my gooier (is that a word?) first sponge with the thicker looking buttermilk soaker.  It took longer than an hour, and I got sidetracked doing other things.  By the time I got around to making bread... they were good and ready. Then, I got everything else I needed out.  Mainly yeast, butter, flour, honey, ...
Read more