Since I finished my classwork for the semester in mid June I have been officially on summer break. I guess this just means a break from school, both mine and Isaac's, because I sure seem to jam everything into my days. It is too hot--and worse, too mosquitoey--to just lounge around in the yard under the sprinkler. So what have I been doing?
Reading. I finally finished the newest Shane Claiborne book, Follow Me to Freedom, a collaboration with John Perkins. And now I have added Perkin's book Let Justice Roll Down to my list. I had never heard of him, and as usual, after reading this book, can't believe that I didn't know who he was. The format is written as a conversation, like a play, but it offers great insight about helping others and leadership. I am now halfway through Barbara Kingsolver's new book The Lacuna. It is much better than it seemed when I scanned through it at the bookstore. It weaves in some history, which I seem to like, but does so well. The history is part of the story, but not the focus. I have a small stack on my nightstand for the next books to read, but am trying to pace myself. I have many other things I like to do too during the day.
Drawing. I've been trying to do a sketch or something drawing related everyday. This doesn't always happen, but I'm getting better at it. I have a new book called Drawing Lab to give me "assignments," to solve that "I don't know what to draw" roadblock my brain tosses up when I grab the paper.
Visiting friends and family. I've been on a road trip with my sister to east Texas. That included a short visit with my dear friend Amy. I've visited my parents and had a fun day with Isaac at the Science museum. I have several other visits with friends coming soon, including a bachelorette party and a trip to see my old youth ministers. And of course more fun times and "field trips" with my children.
Thinking. The other main thing I have been working on this week was thinking about what I love to do. I got this idea from this website. I hoped that it would help me as I finish school (again) and pursue different opportunities. Karen made a list of all the things she loved and then looked for patterns among these. She tried to break these down to their essence as a guide to what she should do for a job. After about two weeks of thinking about it and waiting for time to work on it, I made a list. I know it isn't all inclusive but it was the main things on my mind at that time. When I looked for patterns and then tried to summarize it all, I came up with three main themes:
I love to celebrate life.
I love to create beauty.
I love to correlate ideas. (I don't know that correlate is the best word, but I was going with the "c's").
I don't know that this will help me or not, but it was fun to think about what I love. It will also be interesting to repeat this 10 to 15 years down the road and see what has changed. I think not doing these things really contributed to career burnout.
Next time, more pictures and less words.
Reading. I finally finished the newest Shane Claiborne book, Follow Me to Freedom, a collaboration with John Perkins. And now I have added Perkin's book Let Justice Roll Down to my list. I had never heard of him, and as usual, after reading this book, can't believe that I didn't know who he was. The format is written as a conversation, like a play, but it offers great insight about helping others and leadership. I am now halfway through Barbara Kingsolver's new book The Lacuna. It is much better than it seemed when I scanned through it at the bookstore. It weaves in some history, which I seem to like, but does so well. The history is part of the story, but not the focus. I have a small stack on my nightstand for the next books to read, but am trying to pace myself. I have many other things I like to do too during the day.
Drawing. I've been trying to do a sketch or something drawing related everyday. This doesn't always happen, but I'm getting better at it. I have a new book called Drawing Lab to give me "assignments," to solve that "I don't know what to draw" roadblock my brain tosses up when I grab the paper.
Visiting friends and family. I've been on a road trip with my sister to east Texas. That included a short visit with my dear friend Amy. I've visited my parents and had a fun day with Isaac at the Science museum. I have several other visits with friends coming soon, including a bachelorette party and a trip to see my old youth ministers. And of course more fun times and "field trips" with my children.
Thinking. The other main thing I have been working on this week was thinking about what I love to do. I got this idea from this website. I hoped that it would help me as I finish school (again) and pursue different opportunities. Karen made a list of all the things she loved and then looked for patterns among these. She tried to break these down to their essence as a guide to what she should do for a job. After about two weeks of thinking about it and waiting for time to work on it, I made a list. I know it isn't all inclusive but it was the main things on my mind at that time. When I looked for patterns and then tried to summarize it all, I came up with three main themes:
I love to celebrate life.
I love to create beauty.
I love to correlate ideas. (I don't know that correlate is the best word, but I was going with the "c's").
I don't know that this will help me or not, but it was fun to think about what I love. It will also be interesting to repeat this 10 to 15 years down the road and see what has changed. I think not doing these things really contributed to career burnout.
Next time, more pictures and less words.
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