365 in 365

 I am on a mission to find what makes me happy.  Life is too short to be mired down with things that are not bringing happiness.  Does a certain belonging make me happy?  Does a particular activity make me happy?   What brings me joy in life?   Conversely, what drags me down?  It's time to dive deep and find the answers.

The last few years have been particularly rough for me.  I have struggled with a low grade depression.  I have not gone to the doctor or sought help.  I have been trying to work through it on my own.  There have been months that are really difficult and months that are easier.  It's a battle.  However, I'm determined to win and come out HAPPY!

So how am I going about this deep dive in my quest to find happiness and joy in my life.   There are some things that are not easily changed.  I mean, I still need to go to to work. (Although I really honestly believe that I was created to be a lady of leisure that shouldn't have to work.)  But there comes a time in life where we have to focus on what is bringing us joy and cut what is not.  We need to choose to surround ourselves with the good.  And that is what I am going to be focusing on.

* Clear the Clutter:  I am planning on getting back into my purge project.  I was doing good before my mom passed away and then instead of purging, I was bringing stuff into this house faster than I could blink.   I don't regret my choices for what I brought. However, I do need to start purging again to clean the unwanted.  Because seriously, if I have something that I haven't touched in the 1 or 2  years (or almost three since we moved into this house), then it's time to get rid of it!  

* Stop spreading myself Thin:    I have so many grand ideas.  I am going to do this and then do that and oh wait, I want to do that too!  Such grand plans I have.  A youtube channel for my bird?  Why yes, I have one!  One for my dog?  Yup, got that too!  Exploration Youtube?  ~snorts~  Of course I have that too!   So I have bits and pieces of ideas and grand plans laying in a pile around me.   It gets unwieldy and hard to navigate around all of these grand plans.   So it's time to back away and maybe even delete a few to clear the head space around me! 

* Finish Projects!  I wrote about this a few posts ago where I was soul searching and vowed to work on some of these projects to get them done.    I have started to make some progress on some of these projects.  SLOW progress, but progress.  I pulled out the lonestar quilt and and I have been working on piecing that.  I have been working on editing and getting a few writing projects closer to completion.  It will be a slow process, but I am working on it!

* The last thing that I'm doing is technically starting a new project....but I think it is a worth while one. So worthwhile that I am willing to add something versus pare down.  And that is a 365 project.  And more specifically 365 pictures in 365 days.  A picture a day!  I did this for about 2.5 years about 10-15 years ago and LOVED the process!  Some days it was a chore to find something worthwhile to photograph.  And I will admit that there were a few days where my pictures were cringe worthy due to the fact that they were so uninspired.  However, it was an amazing experience.  I completed that project in the depths of one of the deepest and darkest periods of depression within my life.   Forcing myself to look at the beauty around me during my search for a photo opportunity was a good thing.  Because seriously, you have to look at the world in a different way if you are going to photograph it.  You HAVE to look for beauty.  

I thought about starting my 365 photos for 2025, but I was excited about the project and knew I needed to be FORCED to look at the world that way NOW and not wait until January 1rst.  SO I started on Monday October 28th!  Day two was actually a rough day as I was feeling BAD and I was downing Mylanta like they were the best ever candy!  I will talk more about that in a day or two....but for now, I leave you with the first four days of my photo a day project!

 

 

Jason brought me home flowers when he came home from work. 

I felt so sick, photography was the furthest thing from my mind!

                                I felt so sick, photography was the furthest thing from my mind!

This goofball dog!  I was taking crazy stupid pictures to send to a group chat with some ex-coworkers and Zoey had to get in on the fun!

I just saw the peppers still on the plant in the garden and realized how pretty some plants and produce really is.  So I snapped a picture, never thinking it would be my picture for the day...but I just really like how the picture turned out!