New Home, New Habits
As the title suggests, Becca and I have moved into a new apartment. It's the first place either of us have ever lived that isn't college/university/seminary housing or our parents' houses. It's a beautiful, somewhat rustic apartment over a barn/garage attached to a 1930's house in Montserrat, Beverly. The hardwood floors and walls show off a nice old-fashioned feel, and much of the furniture we've accumulated through craigslist free postings match the setting quite well! Becca took a bunch of picture, though it seems they never made it to Facebook. We'll have to get on that ASAP. We began moving on the 23rd of May, and only have a few boxes left to empty out. One of the most handy features of this place is that we get our own attic over our living space in which we can store winter clothes, moving boxes, and whatever else we don't need on a regular or seasonal basis.
I don't know if this is true for everyone, but I find it very easy to link living habits to living space. When I was in college dorms, I formed certain habits, and when I moved to a seminary dorm they were modified, and when I visited my parents' home I reverted to high school habits, and in seminary married housing I developed yet another set of living habits. But because I'm a creature of habit, it's very hard to change once I've gotten started.
At first, I think Becca & I were trying to live in the new place the same way we had on campus this past year, but there was a major interruption which allowed us to shake things up dramatically: the North Shore 10 Days of Prayer (link), in which we participated to the full, including juice fasting. Juice fasting = eating nothing, only drinking water & juice. We also abstained from most forms of media & entertainment. The spiritual benefits were noticeable - we were more attentive to and focused on prayer, the quality of our relationship with each other increased, and we also felt closer to God eventually. But there were secular benefits too: playing no computer games and spending less time online in general allowed me to get a lot of paperwork done (namely a 15-page ordination application), spend more time unpacking, and the fact that we weren't eating meant no dishes to clean! <3 So we also had more time to read, which I'm typically very bad at doing.
But that fast ended yesterday; we're easing back into eating again. We're at a crossroads now: nearly half the time we've spent in our new place thus far has been food-less and media-less. I'm not saying that we're gonna fast all the time now, but that now I'm feeling so much freer to change my living habits before they start solidifying. The simple act of saying "no" to gaming, food, tv, and movies for ten days has really helped me to reassess some of my priorities and examine my motives and desires. In no particular order, these are some of my thoughts and goals:
* continue cultivating my childhood tendency of being a morning person, getting up at/by 6:00
* having a cooked breakfast far more often, like 2-3 times a week (I love eggs and pancakes and bacon, etc.)
* stick to a daily commitment to the daily office (Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer)
* wash dishes more frequently (preferably daily, since we've got no dishwasher again)
* read a little bit almost every day, sometimes study/spiritual, sometimes relaxing/light
* eat more salads & snacks (particularly in diversifying my lunches)
I so often feel guilty when I update livejournal, because I'm acutely aware of the fact that I so rarely update anymore. I kinda want to blog more too - both here and at leorningcniht.
I don't know if this is true for everyone, but I find it very easy to link living habits to living space. When I was in college dorms, I formed certain habits, and when I moved to a seminary dorm they were modified, and when I visited my parents' home I reverted to high school habits, and in seminary married housing I developed yet another set of living habits. But because I'm a creature of habit, it's very hard to change once I've gotten started.
At first, I think Becca & I were trying to live in the new place the same way we had on campus this past year, but there was a major interruption which allowed us to shake things up dramatically: the North Shore 10 Days of Prayer (link), in which we participated to the full, including juice fasting. Juice fasting = eating nothing, only drinking water & juice. We also abstained from most forms of media & entertainment. The spiritual benefits were noticeable - we were more attentive to and focused on prayer, the quality of our relationship with each other increased, and we also felt closer to God eventually. But there were secular benefits too: playing no computer games and spending less time online in general allowed me to get a lot of paperwork done (namely a 15-page ordination application), spend more time unpacking, and the fact that we weren't eating meant no dishes to clean! <3 So we also had more time to read, which I'm typically very bad at doing.
But that fast ended yesterday; we're easing back into eating again. We're at a crossroads now: nearly half the time we've spent in our new place thus far has been food-less and media-less. I'm not saying that we're gonna fast all the time now, but that now I'm feeling so much freer to change my living habits before they start solidifying. The simple act of saying "no" to gaming, food, tv, and movies for ten days has really helped me to reassess some of my priorities and examine my motives and desires. In no particular order, these are some of my thoughts and goals:
* continue cultivating my childhood tendency of being a morning person, getting up at/by 6:00
* having a cooked breakfast far more often, like 2-3 times a week (I love eggs and pancakes and bacon, etc.)
* stick to a daily commitment to the daily office (Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer)
* wash dishes more frequently (preferably daily, since we've got no dishwasher again)
* read a little bit almost every day, sometimes study/spiritual, sometimes relaxing/light
* eat more salads & snacks (particularly in diversifying my lunches)
I so often feel guilty when I update livejournal, because I'm acutely aware of the fact that I so rarely update anymore. I kinda want to blog more too - both here and at leorningcniht.