I have time for it! What Now?

 How did you survive election week? Were you riveted to the news? Or riveted to anything else? Personally, I found election week to be very inviting to be riveted to baking, raking leaves and cleaning. It seemed the more methodical the task, the more relaxing it was. 

Juicy berries

Cooked with sugar and lemon juice

Happily become a pie. This one is named  Tri-pie-tisan, as in tri-partisan.

Braided bread dough

Baked bread. Named: Build Back with butter

Picked at the pumpkin patch, grilled in the oven then baked into a pie.

Named: The Little Flower

Fresh buns in the oven: Title? "This is how we roll"

Waxing the floor and praying the rosary on Alexa. Yes, Alexa plays the rosary!

Now that the week has passed, and we can begin to breathe easier, the question I have (mostly for myself) is "What now?" 

What now?

Well, why, "What now?" isn't "now" enough to be happy with and not request a "what" out of it? Kind of, but not really. You see, I am realizing that last week time seemed suspended and in that apparent suspension of time, I wasted time by feeling that due to the circumstances of the environment, I had every excuse not to focus. 

In part, this is true, on the other hand lays the deception of excuses: we can still decided what to surround ourselves with, what ways to pass our time, and what things to reject. There are so many basic things that are indeed in the framework of our life that don't get uprooted because the world is going mad. 

It seems as though this beautiful gift of time that we each have patiently waits each day to see how we will use it. Take a cup of water for example, alone it is only water, or H2O if you prefer. However, how you use that water can open the sky of limits: baking bread, drinking it, watering a plant or simply letting it sit till it evaporates. 

Time, the gift of time, is the same way in that it can be used with measuring cups of thought and activities to do something meaningful other than evaporating. 

"What now", can imply writing and actuating projects and tasks that you would love to see accomplished. It is a frame of mind that sees the possibilities that are hidden in the gift of time. Yes, getting things done can take effort, and hard effort sometimes, or even sacrifice like getting up early to win the morning before the noisy people in the house start doing what they do best: making noise. I love waking up at 5 AM before Bentley wakes up. He is deaf and screams for fresh kitty food since he can't hear himself. 

No need for a rooster, Bentley will do the job just fine!

He's such a good cat, even when he's not.

Nevertheless, things we wish to do, people we wish to involve in our lives, projects, languages, trips, and getting rid of the extra Tupperware's in the kitchen are all very doable. 

Not my cupboard, but thank you Google. And this would be a 30 minute to a 1 hour project. Take it all out, clean it out, sort, put things you never use in bags to donate, put remaining things away. Make a cup of tea and sing a song, "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees, would be my recommendation for Tupperware cleanup.

One other question I have is "What did you like least about the election week, process or even candidates stances" Whatever that was, turn it into pancake and flip it over by doing something good for that cause. 

Flip it! Get involved, put in some sweat equity, and flip it. Your heart will feel like the syrup for the pancake when you do.

For example, if you liked least the news coverage, propose to listen to classical music for a week. Our brains need to detox from the toxicity we've absorbed like drinking a daily Diet Coke and not clean water. If you liked least the stance on healthcare, find a volunteer group you can help with healthcare. Be part of the solution, and mark time to do so. I think this goes for anything because the cure or healing for one thing usually comes in participating or practicing the opposite. Just like with the 7 deadly sins, there are 7 holy virtues.

In closing, I know I don't have this right, but I'll share my weekly calendar with you. It is a metamorphosis in progress as I learn to use time better. I divide my weekly projects into three categories: Work, Ministry, and Personal. 

Then each evening before bedtime I plan for the following day by time slots and also checking the weather so I can take advantage of the good weather for the garden or bad weather for indoor projects.

Look at all of those slots of time! Like glasses of water waiting to be used.

I plot out my prayer time first. 8 AM: Rosary walk. Noon: the Angelus prayer (2 minutes max?). 3 PM: Divine Mercy (10 minutes-ish)

Look at that. I have time for prayer!

 I find that if I am sure to have those 30 minutes set aside for blogging, suddenly, "I have time to blog!"

I take the most cumbersome items from my big list and spread it out over the week like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, not making any spots too heavy or too thin. The other items I plan out the night before. 

Some days are meant to not plan.

In the afternoon my shift turns to chores, family time and writing old fashioned letters. It can all be accomplished. We have time and we are not called to give it away, with our emotions to things or situations that don't deserve it.