Life After Claiming

Where do I go from here?

Where will life lead?

Do I continue this path of writing, or just continue living?

He is my happiness, and He makes all things new.

Snapshots Explanation

Dear Reader,

It's getting to be too much--
writing long posts every day.
I'm sure you can tell,
as my posts of thinned out immensely.
It's not unmovitavation.
It not lack of inspiration.
So what is it?
It's that I'm LIVING!
And when you're living,
who has time to be typing?
Hence my new approach:
Snapshots.
Yes, that's it. Just a glimpse.
A brief view of what I'm claiming.
Maybe snapshot entries will help you, too.
Less time reading, more time LIVING!

Live on!

~Chicago Girl

Julie & Julia: A Realization

I feel as though part of me has died.
I haven't told you this,
but the inspiration for this blog started when I saw a delightful movie:
the popular hit "Julie & Julia."
Julie decided to take on a year-long journey of cooking,
in hopes of finding herself and changing her world.
And she did.
And she changed mine.
And Julia's story changed mine.
I went to see the movie twice in the theaters.
I got the book and DVD for Christmas,
and my mom gave me one of her pearl necklaces "in remembrance."
If you've seen the movie you understand.

Tonight I started flipping through the book,
curious to the true character of Julie Powell.
(Over the holidays, my brother mentioned he thought there must be a reason why Julia Child "didn't like" Julie.
I defended Julie all the way.)
But then as I started flipping through it tonight,
my eyes kept catching the same word,
over and over and over.
The more I saw it the more my heart sank.
The word? Dare I even say it?
It was the "F---" word.
Over and over I saw it.
My heart sunk with the realization that the character in my head did not align with the person of Julie Powell in real-life.
What was missing? Simple: Class.
Although Julie's story, and Julia Child's life,
have given me hope,
I need to remember what Julie's husband said to her in the movie when Julie found out that Julia Child supposedly didn't like her.
He told her that it didn't matter,
because it was the Julia that she knew,
that she found,
that had inspired her,
and that she herself accomplished this journey on her own.

I still love "Julie & Julia."
And I'm still going to read Julie's book.
Even if I am disappointed,
I know I will always be grateful for this journey and change in me.

Lesson: don't let disapointment discourage you from the task

Day 128 Christmas Eve Epiphany

Christmas Eve.
When a holiday rolls around,

homeward bound I go—

into the wonderful isolation of a tiny town,

and my parents’ “cottage”:

no T.V. and no internet;

only the quaint company of neighborhood rabbits and birds.

This morning, I politely expressed the need to use the internet.

So, to the small, local library we went.

Dad warmed up his truck and scraped off the strangely thick layer of ice,

and then we (Dad, Mom, and I) squeezed in

(squished, actually, shoulder to shoulder).

And then came the attempt to put on our seatbelts…

which took way too long and was about to cause me some irritation

(as I’d already been waiting to go and was anxious to write)…

But then I decided to claim the moment—

How often do I get times likes these with my parents??

Heaven knows I will miss it when they are gone.

As soon as I realized that,

I let the time-crunch go;

soon we were all laughing hysterically!

With all the to-do of getting there,

we only had about 35 minutes left before the library was closing.

Hence, I only got one blog post written.

All of a sudden, my land of escape became a land of restriction.

I am ashamed to admit that my mood turned fowl.

After mumbling my complaints, I sat in silence the whole ride home.

As I sat on my bed staring at my parents’ computer

(which, as you know, has no internet connection),

it hit me--the most wonderful epiphany of all.

It was simply this:

“Am I living to blog or blogging to live??”

See, I started this blog to simply keep me accountable.

Accountable to ME;

to get out of feeling stuck in this season of life,

to embrace the freedom of singleness, and to truly enjoy the NOW.

Blogging should be the RESULT of my life, not the center of it.

How and when did this get flipped upside down??

Maybe I should embrace this vacation as a haven of needed isolation,

and get back to the heart of this journey.

If you do not hear from me for a few days, please know why.

Maybe we all need to take some time to reflect?

Lesson: live to live, not to write

100 Days--A Reflection

I can't believe it.
What a journey thus far!
I can honestly say that I am seeing a change in me.
Not just in me,
but in my life.

It started as a claim a day,
and has become a new perspective and attitude on life.
I find myself claiming two,
sometimes three,
things in a day.
Not just to have something to write about,
but for me to really LIVE that moment.
For me to ENJOY the moment.
For me to live my LIFE,
For me to REDEEM the time.
I'm finding things have stayed with me--
lifestyle changes such as:

I read in bed a lot more,
find comfort driving in the quiet,
feel guilt-free eating desserts
(even BEFORE dinner),
am more mindful to call & catch up with friends,
don't ever take work home,
and try new things more often.

Why am I doing this?
I don't want wasted years.
I don't want to just go through the motions.
Who said it had to be that way?
Why do we let it be so?
It is our one chance at life--
we should LIVE it.

Lesson:  one has to choose to live