Month: January 2020

Posted on January 8, 2020 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment

It is a daily reminder. It’s a button; a trigger, so to speak; this one thing that continues to tell me of how I keep putting things off.
  I bought a new winter coat last winter, near the end of winter. It is a warm coat, a three-season coat, weatherproof and, perhaps, more functional than fashionable.
  I’ve got other winter coats, but this one is the “reliable” go-anywhere sort of coat, pretty much. It’s not quite an overcoat, and it is certainly not as fancy or as formal as the cashmere overcoat I wear less and less, but then I now dress less formally, or go to fewer formal occasions.
  This coat has deep pockets and holds well my winter gloves, when I’m not wearing them, and any of the stuff I pick up on my daily travels and don’t take the time to stuff into my packsack.
  One of those side pockets has a loose button. It may have been loose when I purchased it (it was, after all, on sale), but I seemed to ignore it at the time.
  And I’ve been ignoring it ever since.
  I know the button is loose. In fact, each time I put on the coat I now check the button. I will even check it throughout the day. It’s always there, loose, and hanging by its thread. It’s waiting for me to fix it.
  Instead, I pull on the thread, wrap the end around the rest of it, and then remind myself I need to take a needle and sew it up tight. Then, I go about my day.
  Now, I don’t want to lose the button, heavens no, because then I’d have to replace it (and wouldn’t that be a bother). Why replace something when you could just repair it (that’s been a theme of mine for a couple of years now; repair instead of replace).
  Yet I haven’t gotten around to tending to this button.
  It is a constant reminder that I need to take the time.
  But I don’t.
  I keep waiting
  When I hung up the coat up for the summer, I reminded myself it needed repair. As I brought it out from the back of the closet last fall, the first thing I did was check the button. But I didn’t bother to get out the needle and thread.
  The year came and went, a new year, hell, a new decade has arrived and still I haven’t fixed this stupid button.
  The button, sadly, is like many things; full of intention, but never realized. I have never followed through on this intention. I keep putting it off for another time, a better time, a more convenient time.
  Often we feel that there simply isn’t the time, and we tell ourselves we will take care of it. Later. Days go by, months go buy, heck the year flies by; we are now a week into another decade and I still haven’t found the time.
  This button has become like a lot of things in my life; they suffer because I don’t take the time.
  I think we are all like that. Too often we rush through things, or we put things off. We don’t take the time we need, or deserve.
  What strikes me as funny, or ironic, is that I promised myself this year, 2020, would be all about taking the time, more, for myself.
  I decided I’ve got too many things that need my attention, too many things hanging by a thread, and I am going to take time to get stuff done. In fact, just yesterday, I completed something that I’ve been struggling with and putting off for years or months. I got it done. Finally.
  But I’ve still got this button, hanging there. A further reminder that you can cross off items on your list, and there are still more things that need your attention. There is always something that demands your attention.
  You need to take the time.

 

It’s all about the time: the new decade.

Throughout this month, on this page, I’m including pieces by other writers who have contributing their thoughts on where we are, heading into 2020, at this time.

Please check back to this page, in your own time.

---

Posted on January 7, 2020 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment

Of course you wonder about
certain things, or doubt the
details. Even worse, you
doubt yourself.
You probably know more
than you think you do.
You simply have to admit it.
Give yourself some credit.

01/07/2019                                         j.g.l.

 

 

---

Posted on January 6, 2020 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment

I bought myself a new pair of pyjamas last week, a great deal in one of the big post-Christmas sales. A gift to myself, you might say.
I love pyjamas, and have since I used to wear those jersey knit Star Trek-style togs as a kid. I always found them comfortable.
When you were younger, donning your p-jays was an expected, even anticipated. part of getting ready for bed.
It was something you just did, or were told to do, or got in the habit of doing. Getting ready for bed marked the end of the day.
It made sense; you got up and dressed for school why wouldn’t you dress for sleep?
Maybe it began in our teenage years that we began wearing less and less clothing to bed. It was a little more casual, and maybe it was more liberating, but was it as comfortable (or as purposeful) as a soft pair of pyjamas?
Not even close.
The act of getting ready for bed is good for the soul. It is more than symbolic. When you change into pyjamas, you signal the mind and body that you are ready for sleep. You mentally prepare yourself for comfort.
You get better sleep when you prepare yourself for it. You spend a third of your life in bed, should you not be comfortable?
New pyjamas do it every time.

01/06/2020                                              j.g.l.