Monday Morning Coffee

 

Good Monday morning, my friends. I hope your weekend was relaxing or crazy busy; whatever makes you happiest! We are home, having arrived late last night, but not too late that I couldn't get things unpacked and myself showered. I am a creature of habit and find it hard to deviate from my schedule! I took this photo through the car window when we stopped for a dish of ice cream yesterday, and looking at that beautiful sight led me to think about slower and simpler times.

I was thinking about how many things in life today are rushed and how much we might miss by all the multitasking we can do now. I remembered my Grandma Mil, my mom's mom, sitting in her chair by the window on any given day, sipping a cup of coffee, talking on her corded phone for hours at a time. I thought about how she didn't ~couldn't~ unload the dishwasher, scrub the bathtub, or organize a closet while she was on the phone. Her phone cord didn't reach that far! Her attention was primarily focused on her conversation with the person on the other end. Then I thought about how I often do numerous things while on the phone. I sort laundry, dig through files looking for one specific paper, and even clean the garage. I realize now that I cannot give my full attention to the other person and what he or she may be saying because my mind is being bombarded by too many things at the same time.

This need for instant gratification and accomplishment has become so prevalent that I fear we are missing so much of the joy of simply being. Have you recently tried to sit and talk on the phone without doing something else simultaneously? It isn't easy! We seem accustomed to allowing and even promoting the desire for excess information and the need for constant accomplishment that the very acts of being, living, visiting, and resting are now seen as laziness and selfishness.

When I ask people why they stopped blogging, I am often given the same answer. It is usually something along the lines of Reading blogs takes too long. Or I don't have time to sit and write a blog post! Instagram is so much quicker! Exactly. Blogging does take more time. Reading blogs takes more time than scrolling on Instagram, being bombarded with so much information that the mind cannot process it before moving on to the next. I am all for technology. After all, I use it every single day to connect to my friends here in blogland. However, I also long for the days when the world moved much slower. When my parents had a cup of coffee after dinner while talking about their day. I miss the days of being able to watch the news for thirty minutes and then turn it off and go outside to enjoy the quiet of a summer evening. 

It is possible to do these things. I can certainly try! What is that saying? Change begins with you? Or Change starts at home? Something like that! Well, I will stop there, my friends. I need to write a grocery list, do some laundry, and eat breakfast. I hope you all have a wonderful day and will join me in prayer or loving thoughts for the people affected by the recent horrific fires.

Thank you for visiting!

BillieJo