I just wrote the words that are below the line in my newsletter. Part of me is saying, "Well now you've done it." But what have I got to lose?
What's about to happen is a mystery. I hope to post something for the next 365 about Living Lightly - not from an expert vantage point, but from a learner's travel diary. It might not be very clever. It FOR SURE won't be very polished. But it will be real.
I'm 63 years old. On June 12, I'll have been married to my one and only love, Rich, for 30 years. He retires in 8 more teaching days. This morning, I weighed 161 pounds. My amazing son Davis is coming home for a rest-up week tomorrow. He's 27 and calls YWAM S. Africa home. (Youth With A Mission). My lovely daughter Laina is 24 and has found home with Circuit Riders (a division of YWAM) in Huntington Beach, CA. My mom, Gammie, is 97 and lives in her apartment that is attached to our house. No pets, but love animals. I've picked up art again after raising kids. I love Jesus and believe God can and wants to be known. I wear makeup most days, but sometimes I don't. I used to dye my hair until the gray at my Welsh temples wouldn't take any color, so now I'm au naturale and I love it. I was born and raised in Alabama, but I've lived in Washington State longer than any other place. I've been to all 50 states and lots of other countries. I love to read novels (clean ones.) I like to be as honest and real as I can, but not in order to be defiant. I've only had one cavity in my life, but I can never turn down a frozen chocolate chip cookie.
OK. Are we good?
So here I am. Starting this thing called "Living Lightly."
Here's what I wrote in my artist newsletter that hasn't even been finished yet:
-------------------------- from my newsletter:
"I have a new goal.
There I was just daydreaming with God and not doing much of anything really. I was jetlagged and loopy. We were able to go on a cruise for our upcoming 30th anniversary. Even had a whale sighting which made my year! But I digress.
Sometimes, God just plops a concept or idea into my head and it's so "out of nowhere" that I've come to recognize that I need to pay attention.
Like a headline on social media, I saw the words
Live Lightly
I feel like I've spent my whole life coming to this point. I won't write much about it here, because this is not the place for it. But hopefully it will begin to effect my art, how I treat others, my philosophy of life, how I do business.
I'd be curious. What meaning can you see in the words, "Live Lightly?"
If God whispered those words to you and you knew it was His idea and His desire for you, would you be more willing to let go of the heavy things you carry? Would you sing in the shower more? Dance in the kitchen? Lighten up your schedule? Laugh more? Clean out your closet? Eat lighter fare? Worship more freely? Lose weight? Cast off some burdens you weren't meant to haul around? Open your curtains? Delegate something to someone who could do that task better than you're doing it - or not doing it? Let go of some of that perfectionism?
These are the flood of ideas that came to me as I considered those words. Feel free to join me on this journey. I'll probably be posting on my blog, I guess. Not sure yet, but I feel a change in the wind.
If you're curious about coming along, my blog is - as of today - called LIVING LIGHTLY. I think I'm gonna spend the next 365 exploring Living Lightly. No promises of what this will look like because... well, because I don't have any idea. But it's that what make adventures fun?"
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So this is my journey and my story of exploring a new way of life to me.
I probably will not respond to comments, so please don't take it personally. Maybe pretend I've already died and journal your thoughts for your own reflection. I don't want to hurt your feelings if you're looking for a response, so I'm just saying this right out front.
Day 1 Intention: To just go for it. Done. (That's enough for today.)
Day 1 observation: 1 or 2 bites of sugar energizes me. 3 or more makes me feel heavy. Then I carry shame because I know I ate too much for my body.
Live Lightly Learning: just one or 2 bites is enough.
Love,
Lydia
©2023 Lydia D Crouch
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