71 degrees today in Portland. Sunshine all day. Sunscreen required. The perfect day to start gardening... well, weeding. Pulling out and getting rid of the stuff that I don't want... that won't be helpful to the garden I'm planning - that won't help it to grow. I learned the hard way last year that the pretty weeds with flowers have to go, too. They drain the soil and usurp the water as much as the thorny weeds. Those weeds that spew seeds when you touch them... it ends up those start off with cute little white flowers that develop into those nasty weed seeds. Live and learn.
This concept of weeding can be used in other aspects of life. I'm finding myself simplifying - my relationships, my belongings, my goals, my expectations. I'm doing some personal weeding - purging those things that seem fun or useful but that, in fact, end up draining my energy and my time. A friend pointed out to me that people often keep themselves busy to self distract, to avoid introspection. That, my friends, is not intentional living. So, here I sit, writing my first blog on the day I remembered, again, to live with intention. I'm remembering to slow down, read a book in the sun, smell the roses (okay, those aren't blooming yet, smell the blue bells), and just be with myself. Living with intention is just that... remembering, daily, what I want to do and be. It will have to revisited again and again...as will the weeding.
