simplifying ( my summer lists )

I have so many words that I want to write, so many things I want to say -- dreams and plans that are spilling out into everything. Since I have a week off of ballet, there's a slight lull in the everyday craziness -- which is odd, yet calming at the same time. So let me just begin by saying...thank you.

I'm so blessed and grateful for your prayers, sweet words, and kind comments. The performance went beautifully, and was an amazing production. My mom was the official photographer and once some photos are released to the press, I hope to share a couple shots with you. Perhaps when we receive the DVD, I'll put up one of my variations. We'll see.

But despite the beauty of the day, there's always an underlying tone of melancholy tinging the end of the performance. It's beautiful because it happened -- it's the culmination of a lifetime of moments, leading up to the one final moment where all the world seems to truly be a stage that was meant for you to dance upon. Yet at the same time, after roses sit softly in vases and the world is quiet, you know that there will never be another moment just like that. And that is why it is beautifully melancholy -- joyful yet sad all in the same second.

So I sit here and write, amidst shouts of siblings laughing outside, and I smile. Summer is here at last. And with summer comes summer lists and plans; dreams that we desperately want to be realized in these few months. But, this summer, my summer list is a bit different. I'm striving for simplicity in these few months. And these are some of the ways I'm planning on doing so...


getting rid of excess
clothing, shoes, and stuff
and keeping only what I really need

go to bed earlier
and wake up just in time
to watch the world wake up

cut out things that clutter up my life
get rid of the weeds
so that I can blossom

start each morning by
reading my bible and
praying

spend more time
with my family
working, playing,
or laughing

do the first things
first
work before play

Tidy my room
and workspace
daily

use my time
i n t e n t i o n a l l y

and...

live each day
like it's
my last
(Ephesians 5:15-17)


That's my summer list. What's yours?

Loads of love,
Hannah

ps. I started a 365 project and would love it if you'd follow along on my flickr.