2010 : learning the fine art of consumption

As I drove my kids to preschool this morning, the whole city seemed to be drowsy still. Cars moved quietly  along at five miles below the speed limit and nobody seemed to mind. By this afternoon, people will be zipping along at heart-stopping paces and everything will come alive.

That's how 2010 started out for me: slow and lazy but gradually awakening to new possibilities. I was embarrassed to think that an entire week of the year had passed (that's 1/52nd of the year wasted!) without that One Perfect Resolution that would change my life. Then it came to me in one of those moments of clarity that inevitably follow moments of confusion or unhappiness or introspection.

I've spent the last two days doing something I love: paper crafting. (Photos later!) I went to the library to check out some books on the subject and suddenly felt burned out. Why? Why? Why was I feeling this way just when I was starting to make some progress?

Simple: I was burned out. Just like I was totally burned out from Christmas music by December 1st because I'd been listening to it nonstop since the start of November. Yes, Virginia, that really is "too much of a good thing." By the time we finally tore down our final Christmas decorations (two days ago), I wanted to shove them into the box and scream, "GOOD RIDDANCE!!!"

Too much of a good thing. Burned out.

Just like when you eat too much candy, you get nauseous. Or when you go shopping and impulsively spend too much, you feel guilty. It's like that with time, too: if you consume too much of it with "fun" and ignore the important stuff, you get burned out. You feel emotionally nauseous. That's how I felt today.

So my 2010 Resolution is to be more moderate in my CONSUMPTION in every little corner of my life. I need to consume money carefully because my husband brought up graduate school with me again this morning. That will require some savings. I need to consume calories more carefully because I've fallen into some very bad habits while pregnant and I don't want to be defined by obesity the rest of my life.

I need to consume time more carefully because I do not relish the inevitable guilt that comes from letting the laundry pile up or listening to my son say to me, as he did yesterday with a sad look on his face, "I wish you would spend more time playing with me, Mommy."

I live in a culture of waste--consumption gone wild. What does the rest of the world think of Americans? Fat. Lazy. Overindulged.

Yep, they pretty much got it right and it's not something we should be offended by. It's something we can listen to and ask, "Do you mean there is another way?"

Yes! When I was in Germany last year, the entire lifestyle that my relatives lead was appealing to me. They savor their time with family. They savor their food. They savor every square inch of their property by planting flowers and shrubs and trees all throughout their yard. They savor life by consuming the right way.

Here are my initial thoughts on how to be a better CONSUMER:

SAVOR!
Close my eyes and savor the taste of my food instead of just robotically chewing and swallowing. Breathe deeply when the air is heady with the fragrance of spring roses. Pull over to the side of the road and just stare when that perfect sunset is in the sky. Sit on my front porch and just enjoy the autumn weather. Slow down. Pay attention. Be happy.

PRIORITIZE
Enjoy my hobbies after the kitchen is clean. Do the hard stuff first--and be grateful for arms and legs and health that make it possible to fold laundry and sweep floors and dust furniture. Stick to schedules, look at the calendar, don't complain about the boring stuff. I know myself well enough to know I will never enjoy the good stuff if the important stuff hasn't been completed.

GET CREATIVE
Think about the phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" in every facet of my life. Can I reduce the amount of time it takes to get this done? Can I make this food do double-duty somehow? (Like make it both nutritious and really delicious? Or add something to the meal so that it will fill daily requirements of calcium and protein? Or protein and fiber?) Can I multi task so that I'm having fun and doing important stuff at the same time? (Like practicing my singing--fun--while doing the dishes--not fun.)

Suddenly the year ahead of me is looking bright and happy! Though seemingly vague, this goal is achievable. There is no way to measure whether I have succeeded or failed, but that's okay. It's what I need right now.