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HashBrowns…January 7-11, 2013 Balance

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balance
Balance does not come easy to me. Except on the yoga mat…I’m pretty good at not falling over there. But as for balancing my day-to-day chores and activities? Well, that’s where I’m lacking.

I will bake for 3 days straight and the laundry will pile up. I will blog for 3 days straight and the stack of dirty dishes in the sink multiplies. I will clean my house from top to bottom in a 2-3 day sprint, only to have my clients photos sit unedited and then I’m stuck to my computer chair for an entire weekend to try to finish them.

Why can’t I just do a little bit of everything all the time so chores don’t grow into overwhelming monster tasks?

This is a question of balance. A question I plan on addressing this year. Starting now.

With this blog.

I used to keep my computer in the kitchen on my counter so I could blog whenever I had a minute. Problem was, that minute often turned into 85 minutes. Dinner wasn’t started until it was really late, my kids didn’t get their school reading done, I never got any reading done, which used to be my favourite activity! And laundry? Ha.

I was pushing out 3 to 4 blog posts every week. My days were full of children. My blog was full of children. My room was full of children. My evenings were full of children. Are you sensing a theme here?

There was no balance. And without balance, there is no harmony. Anyone who sings will know that to make a beautiful harmony, no singer can out sing the other…it just doesn’t work. And that’s how my world was going. One singer was belting out the lyrics as if her life depended on it, while the rest had hardly any voice at all. Including the children.

So I’ve started to take back the balance I have lost. I took all the baby cots and blankies out of my room. I made a pretty little office area in there instead. The computer is out of my kitchen and on my desk next to my travel journals and photographs of my children. It is a happy little working corner” of my room.

We mamas know that our kids are important. We would give our lives to make them happy.  I love all the children in my world. By taking back a piece of myself, I am not saying that these little people are no longer as important to me. It means the exact opposite.

If this mama is over-tired, stressed out, rushing about overwhelmed with the things falling apart around her, she can’t give proper care and attention to these wee little souls around her.

Mama needs a break for her soul, too.

And so I’m reading more and sitting at my computer less. I’m spending time on my yoga mat. I’m listening to cello music more often…my very favourite. And I can already hear the harmony coming back to my home.

It sounds really nice.

What does this mean for my blogging schedule? Well, it means there will be fewer posts, but the quality will be much better. When a person spends careful quiet time on something, instead of madly rushing to get it done, the result is always noticeably better.

When a person takes time to listen, she can give more of what people actually want.

Thanks for stopping by, and welcome to the new and improved Small Potatoes.

~Arlee, Small Potatoes

p.s. So now that I’m really, really listening…please take a minute and drop me a note…I’d like to hear what kinds of things you’d like to see on the blog this year. Really. It takes many voices to make a choir. Let’s do it!


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

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