Day 129/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
It was the sixties, the marriage bar on women in the public sector was lifted, women with a prescription and a husband were allowed to get the contraceptive pill, fighting for the right to drink in bars meant chaining themselves to a bar in Brisbane, and indigenous Australian men and women were finally recognised as full citizens.
Television was introduced into our home and Bandstand began to "corrupt the minds" of my mother's eldest son and daughters.
Elvis Presley was discharged from his army posting in Germany, filmed GI Blues, married Pricilla and was turning heads and twisting hips including those of my eldest brother who was hellbent on being conscripted to the Vietnam war effort.
Such was the backdrop on which my mother raised 6 women and 2 men, while supporting her husband to provide the food and shelter of our family home.
While being a woman with a natural tendency to want more for her daughters than marriage and domesticity, my mother taught us, well let's just say it wasn't always welcome, the many nuances of keeping and managing a home, along with the leisurely homecrafts of knitting, crocheting, embroidery, dressmaking and mending, playing the piano and tending a garden, to fill our idle time.
It seems a world away as I reflect back yet as we sit here in isolation my mind is returning to the idea of knitting a cardigan as the winter months are upon us.
There's something special about that connection to homecrafts at a time when we have busy lives in the world of business and careers. It somehow draws that boundary in my life that enables me to compartmentalise the ambitious and the leisurely and especially enjoy both.
My days are spent deep in research for assignments with evenings assigned to reading and crafting and weekends dedicated to my garden. My life and my heart are full to brimming over as I plan my next adventure into baking sourdough croissants.
Caring for my home is an absolute pleasure. Okay, well window cleaning is not my favourite job, I'll admit.
It's about treasuring what I have. My home, my garden, my skills and crafts, my knowledge, my connections, my community...my home.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.
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