It’s halfway through September, and I’ve been beavering away at a lot of things. I’ve got a new job I’m figure out, a current job I’m trying to workflow better, a secret project that is getting more serious, and a side hustle that is wrapping up.
If that sounds like a ton of work, it doesn’t feel like it. A lot of it is working with my hands, and listening to a lot of podcasts, which is grand. I’ve been watching through the films of Tim Burton with a filmography podcast, and it’s been delightful to connect over them with my dad, who raised me on those films.
But the overwhelm is real. An important part of dealing with it is engaging in a few daily practices that keep me centered. And the way I’ve been disciplining myself to engage with those practices is… Instagram.
Stay with me here.
There’s this whole 15-a-day idea that’s been around for a while. With things that are important to you, if you make sure to devote just 15 minutes a day, you can really keep on track. The trouble is, it’s easy to have too many such things. You have to be selective.
I’ve also decided, I don’t have to be perfect. I want to observe the days that I don’t check off a certain box as much as the days that I do. It keeps me asking – is this something I want to keep committing to? Is it benefiting me? How do I feel when I do it or don’t? Do I need to swap a practice for something else? What is getting in the way?
It’s not enough, somehow, to keep track in a planner or diary. I’ve been instagrammin’ it. I cannot keep track of a planner or diary for something like that. Just can’t do it. I need some aspect to make me feel like I’m not doing this alone.
To my surprise, a few friends have reached out to say they are cheering for me. That has just been huge. Thank you so much for doing that, friends. It makes me all the more motivated to keep posting, especially on days when I don’t check a box or two. I’m actively performing anti-self-congratulation, as an act of defiance against my own perfectionism.
Since my insta-posts are pretty short, I thought I’d do this blog to explain the categories I’ve been using on there. In no particular order, here’s what I’m trying to do for at least 15 minutes a day:
1. Spend time with Jesus.
I have struggled for the last couple of years to spend time in the Bible. I read the Daily Office readings for two years, then wanted to do something more focused, but nothing ever stuck. I need something systematic, and something social, just to keep me *in the word at all*. Then once I’m in it, it doesn’t return empty, but does its work.
So this summer, I treated myself to a new journaling Bible (thanks to my brother-in-law Justin for the inspiration) and a new set of super-fine-line pens and fancy highlighters. I’m still doing the Daily Office, but I’m marking it out in the margins, so I can see the readings more in context, and what the lectionary skips. (I used to read the Daily Office in an organized volume like this – handy, but removes the context.) Right now we’re in Philippians, which is a forever favorite.
2. Spin something.
For a long time, this was support spinning. I’ve support-spindled for over 120 days this year, which was super-helpful to acquire a new motor skill. But the reality is, many of the long-term spinning projects I want to complete are projects I really want to do on my wheel. And they are just sitting right now, with the intensive knitting I’ve been doing for jobs. I don’t like it when they just sit.
So now it’s 15 minutes of spinning anything on anything. And really just 15 minutes; spinning on a support spindle always turned into an hour. This week I finished a bobbin of my qiviut breed study, and it was really sweet. Starting today I’ll pivot to some of my combo-drafts on the e-spinner, which are always a treat.
3. Move my body.
Yeah, I hate exercise. Let’s admit it. But I feel so much worse when I don’t. I really like goals, but goals + exercise are just not working for me. At all. They never have. I psych myself out in one second. So I lowered my bar to any movement at all. Picking tea out on the land counts, even though I’m mostly sitting. Taking my kid to the playground counts. Vigorously housecleaning counts (this is more likely to get me sweating than anything else I’ve mentioned).
The point is to keep it positive, and to focus on celebrating on what I managed to do, giving no voice to the constant backing track of “you should be doing more.” That message is not welcome in my life anymore.
4. Food Prep
If you know me, you know I’ve done some weird food stuff over the years. Or, let’s just say, non-mainstream. I’m trying to simplify. But there’s no getting around it; I have to do some planning if I want to eat healthy things. It’s easy to do a whole bunch on one day and then do nothing, but overcoming inertia on food prep can be awful. So I’m telling myself, every day, just do something. Something outside of the normal food-cooking, that will help me stay ahead of the beast, and mean I have healthy meal options when I hit a wall. This usually means something like: put one loaf of bread in the breadmaker. Put one batch of chickpeas in the instant pot. Chop up veggies so hubby can cook after work. But just one of those things. It legit helps, man.
Latest fav: oat groats in the IP for breakfast.
An unspoken fifth point here is setting my alarm for half an hour before my kids have to get up in the morning. On a good day, I can hop out of bed and do one of my 15-a-days before they’re up. On a less-good day, I just manage to haul out of bed before they do. Last year, I was routinely dragged out of bed by my still-at-home youngest, and starting the day reactive like that was not helpful to anyone.
I am sure I won’t keep posting on Insta for long. These practices come and go for me, and paradoxically, holding them in an open hand is part of what makes them sustainable for longer.
So don’t worry about me, if you see me posting what look like failures. They’re not. They’re honest announcements of what a daily process looks like. Publicly announcing days of “nope, this didn’t happen” is a way of embracing them as part of a successful process. I have no interest in self-congratulation. My pictures are not good – I thought I was going to use insta for self-promotion, but that’s just above my pay grade at this point. In a lonely world and an isolated lifestyle, these posts help me take care of myself. And every single one of you who has reached out with encouragement – I’ve already said this privately, but I’ll call it out publicly – thank you. You don’t have to do that, but when you do, it really blesses me. You’ve got this, my friend, and I do too.
Osborn Fiber Studio 