There are a lot of new projects going on since a friend is helping out.  He organized and rearranged the kitchen and cabinets, pantry and laundry area.  Immediate upgrade! He spent hours fixing the garage door that had stopped working, and another many hours fixing the front window that I’d managed to yank some part out of its housing.  He turned the back porch into a man cave and fixed all the bent aluminum from when the oak tree came down on the porch roof during Hurricane Jeanne in 2004.  He replaced the door handle so it now works and locks. He’s certainly upgraded my life, and not just by being Mr. Fix It, although that’s an unexpected plus.

We’d driven by a neighbor’s last week and saw a perfectly good ottoman (with broken top) at the curb, so we picked it up and brought it home.  My friend studied it and designed a wooden shell around it and made a sturdy square top.  We considered whether to put casters on it, whether to pad the seat.  I was going to surprise him by painting it while he slept. Then I saw he’d wood puttied over the nails and I didn’t want to paint it and then find he wanted to do other prep work first. He pays more attention to detail than I do.  I sanded it, later he fine sanded it and I did the first two coats of paint.  It’s a nice royal almost navy blue side and top with black legs.  He sealed the top coat and designed a sacred symbol and painted it on.

I find I’m really motivated when someone around me is motivated and in motion.  It doesn’t matter what they are doing, just their being focused and in motion is so inspiring to me. A friend wrote “You will never be more than the sum of the handful of people that you choose to have around you. Look at the lives of those you spend the most time with. How do their lives compare to your vision of the future, of who you want to be?”

I find that the people I want to spend time with are people who inspire me to deep thought, who inspire me to action, who inspire me to push boundaries and set new goals, who inspire me, period.  I speak to so many people during the day and am always glad to hear when someone takes time to reflect, to change direction and see where the new tide will take them.  I like someone who inspires me to do the same.

I’m doing things I don’t typically do, like cooking foods I don’t typically cook, such as coffee, carcass and cookies.  But I’m also taking care of things that have needed doing for a long time, the household repairs I just did not notice.  It’s good to have a new eye make suggestions about what I really want in that room, in the house, and what am I emotionally attached to that serves no real purpose? It’s been so helpful, helping me clear out of my life what no longer serves a purpose.

Blessed are those that let me see my life with new eyes.