Curves

I love life. I love how it has good and not so good. How we get to juggle and become better for our struggles. It has been over a month since my last post because of these curves life has given. I was comfortable and contented on my straight and predictable path when with screeching fierceness my car was off the track. Life threw me a wild curve and while I thought that was almost over a few more sent me screeching the other way. Now in all seriousness if I am writing a blog a month after my last post my life could not be so very awful. I have been so blessed to have my friends and family walking with me through curves and straightaways. Lessons learned from this concentrated season of curves are: enjoying life where we are right now where God has placed us, loving those He has given us while we have them, reaching out to others who need us maybe more than we need others....I hope you can do the same!

inspiration...things worth thinking about

             I am not sure how many eclectic moms out there do this, or if I am singular in this but I find myself unconsciously looking each day for those things that inspire me. Whether it is simple or complex, whether it is to drive my motivation, or spark my creativity or fuel my joy level, I look for them. These unrelated tid bits are a type of glue that  some days make my day worth remembering. Makes it stick in my memory. A trip to the park becomes, for me, a chance to "mentally photograph" my children and their world. To retain a memory, a snap shot of who they are and the details about them. A quiet moment with a close friend becomes a journal entry in our lives. a chance to share and compare our happenings and journeys. These moments I find often, moments with those who love and cherish me, but also I am intrigued by strangers and the lives they choose to live, the differences that exist in our lifestyles, cultures, and though processes. I like pulling from others things I can relate to as well, that I can make my own and individualize it. Beauty in nature, architecture, the form and function of art, the mixture and wonder of music... It all stimulates my inner person who gets lost in the life and challenge of being an eclectic mom some days.
          A few things I have cherished and made my own, been inspired by and allowed to fuel my passions this week are: Sushi all by myself...quiet and delicious! Picking peaches with my loved ones at the height of their freshness...heaven! The sound of the blustery day outside...the wind in the leaves so peaceful and content. Jumping in the freezing river on a hot and humid day.....relief. My very own online music stations blasting all of my favorite sounds...infusing my day with things that make me smile.....lovely. My 6 year old's toothless grin, my dear husbands quiet attention to me, my tweens boisterous laughter....these feed my soul...what feeds yours?

Sticky Floors

Why is it, I wonder, that the condition of your floors is directly proportional to the state of our lives at the moment? For example, most of the time my floors (life) is clean, a bit cluttered in places but more or less they are usable for the purpose they were intended for. I can navigate my way around with little or no issues, and there is a point and/or a purpose for the items cluttering them.

 Today though, as I was busy bustling in my kitchen, I noticed that my floors were a bit sticky. As time progressed I noticed that the stick began to cover a larger and larger area of the floor. Making the "shcthick" sound every time my foot left the linoleum. (You know the sound....if you have kids, pets or a spouse you know the sound.) The stick began to prick at the edge of my thoughts, tugging lightly as I busily moved from task to task,and eventually grew in tackiness as well as offensiveness to my thought process. It began to bother me, and then irritate me, until it stole the joy of what I was doing because it became just one more thing for me to tend to.


Now in all fairness I was doing a kinda messy, slightly complicated and a bit dangerous domestic task. I was making and canning home made apple sauce and blueberry syrup. I have never made or canned either  before...the result of the sticky floor, I believe, has to do with why they don't make maple syrup inside. The sticky particles seem to cling to the steam from the canner and are displaced onto every surface in the vicinity...resulting in "SHCTHICK" ( it is true...that is why it is made outside traditionally).

Life is very often the same way...our multitasking, juggling act of complicated, and kinda messy,  get so stuck with seemingly uninvolved variables. This happens to all of us, I know. That is no surprise. Life is life. The surprise comes when we realize how we have handled those "sticky situations". We can have such crazy reactions to the things that pop up in our chaos. I have recently been less than thrilled by my  responses to situations that threaten to keep me stuck. Like my floor though, I plan on clean up from the unexpected and once again fulfill my purpose. Today has reminded me that no matter the state of your floors to enjoy life and look for the small things to get you through. Find a small thing you normally take for granted, like none tacky floors, and allow yourself to be blessed by it. I know I will. -The Eclectic Mom

My first post!

The words are so quiet on the screen, such a contrast from the life of an eclectic mom! What is an eclectic mom you wonder....simply a mom who balances and juggles the well being and quality of life of those she loves while still maintaining her sense of self and enjoyment of her own life...even if it is a snippet at a time. She feels like she juggles the world some days, and works hard to do the best she can with what she has been given. On the flip side of the coin she knows she knows she needs to keep doing the things she loves, and being the women she is so she can give those in her life her best. Seeing that I need this met in my life as well, thus I begin this blog. Welcome to my life...the life of an eclectic mom.