Somehow, I’ve made it. I just turned in my final assignment for the penultimate class for my MBA. We unpacked enough stuff that we were able to host our nephew and his girlfriend as they undertook a classically crazy college break road trip. I’ve made a good start at catching up on some of the sleep I’ve missed this month in the mad dash to pack and move, and we’ve hit our stride with our walks.
I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have reached this point.
I’m not even feeling particularly twitchy yet about having lived amidst boxes and dishevelment for … over a month, considering the time in Milwaukee as well as the time since our arrival. Since I now don’t have anything due for school until after Labor Day, all of a sudden I have TIME. I’m imagining that I can finish unpacking, organizing, and arranging by the time I have to return to work after the holiday weekend. I’m not sure that’s realistic, either, since I’ve also committed to completing a freelance editing job, but I think at least the living spaces and my husband’s acupuncture/Oriental medicine treatment space should be suitable for general public viewing sometime next week.
However, the quote in today’s image still speaks to me. While sanctuary is most often considered in terms of its physical ability to shelter us, and I tend to view my home space as my own private retreat, finding peace is only possible to the extent that we are able to accept access to it from within. Once again, hubs found an article about “living happier” that addresses this process directly. We were already pretty good on a lot of these elements, but have made a much more conscious effort at finding daily–even hourly–gratitude since we’ve moved, and it feels like that has contributed to lightening the load this move put on our shoulders.
For the print and design geek in me, hubs also found a plug-in that lets me preview fonts in my browser. It’s the little things that make me smile these days.
😀
Because of the time constraints of the freelance work and allocating all the stuff that currently remains in boxes, I don’t think I’ll manage any fiction words this week again, but I’m definitely that much closer to it having finished with this class. I’ll grant myself a clean slate after Labor Day, but in the meantime invite you to check on the rest of my ROW80 cohorts’ progress.
I love this post, and that you’re hopeful but realistic about what you can reasonably get to during your break. And the word ‘penultimate’ always brings me a smile!
Sounds like things are settling, and you’re finding both inner and outer sanctuary. I’m saving the article to read a bit later, when the lovely chaos of my life is a little less – umm, noisy. Yes, let’s use that word. =)
Congrats! That’s a great accomplishment. I hope you’ll take a moment to pat yourself on the back before worrying about those boxes. 😉