I saw Passengers the other day with my super knitty pal Troy. Having not seen any real trailers about the movie beforehand, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really really liked it. It doesn’t hurt that Chris Pratt is pretty dreamy in an old-fashioned, boy-next-door kinda way. As a six degrees of separation side note, my sister-in-law went to high school with him (!). I sure don’t remember any guys at my high school lookin’ like that…… (Sssshhhh… don’t tell R. Darling I said that – we went to high school together!). Granted, lots of dudes get better with age ;)
Anyway, daydreams aside, I was struck by a particular scene in the movie and have been thinking about it ever since. Jim Preston (Pratt’s character) is asked why he would choose to spend 120 years in hibernation in order to start a new life on an unknown colony far from the life he knew on Earth. He thinks about it for a moment and then says that back on Earth, when something breaks, it is replaced instead of being fixed. As someone who works with his hands for a living, he implies that he wants a simpler life where we value what we create. When I think about what a life like that would mean, I envision a place where people would live more intentionally. We would care more about the things we were doing and the people with whom we chose to populate our lives. Mindfulness, I believe it’s called.
Top to Bottom: Chrysanthemum, ?, Bellini
I have been stuck on this thought ever since. And not just because of the pretty face and slick Hollywood film that brought it up. It’s not a new thought, and certainly not unique to my existence. It’s easy enough to define, but more difficult to apply to every day life. But I know I need it.
I was listening to The Minimalists‘ Podcast the other day and they described an exercise they have asked people to do in the past that allows them some clarity when reflecting on what’s important in their lives and what would really make them happy. On a sheet of paper, you write “Today” and list all the things you need or want to do today. All the stuff that feels important at this moment. Turn the paper over and title that side “Someday”. Write down all the things you want to do someday. Now, what would happen if you switched the titles of the two sides? If “Someday” became “Today”? Would your life be richer, more-fulfilled, and have more meaning? I think yes.
So I am finding ways to make “someday” into “today”. I dyed yarn 3 days this week and developed 3 new colors for the Etsy shop. Normally that would have fallen under “someday” but I made the choice it would be today and I am so much happier for it. And people, happy is really where it’s at.
Yay! You dyed 3 gorgeous colors! I would call the middle one Bay of Naples because even on a stormy day there were glimpses of that color in the water. All three would make an awesome colorwork piece.
It’s not always as easy as we’d like to put more of our Somedays into Today, right? Go you for finding ways to make it happen! It’s lovely to read that you felt happier for having done it.
(For some reason, maybe because you mentioned mindfulness, your post reminded me of a book I’ve read last summer: Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff. I really liked it, even more than I had thought I would, and I’m mentioning it because I have a feeling you might find it interesting too. If you read it, let me know what you think!)