Charm Citizen

What I didn’t do today – Instead of creating a to-do list or tallying our daily accomplishments, I think we should start a Didn’t Do list, like today I didn’t take crap from passive aggressive people, or today I didn’t clean my dishes or brush my teeth, I skipped my workout in order to rest, I didn’t buy the latest gadget to keep up with the Jones, I said no to a party I didn’t want to go to…. I feel like we keep all kinds of lists in the name of efficiency and progress but sometimes it’s important to just do nothing or not do something that you don’t feel like doing.

Leaving things behind – I think this will eventually end up being a longer, more thought through post but wanted to start putting some words together. I’ve been thinking about how I’ve left a lot of my former activities and life behind me over the last 3,2,1, years and even more so in the past 3 months. Don’t get me wrong, many things are still the same. I’ve had the same house, car, husband, family for many years but other things have changed. I was initially thinking how I changed jobs 3 months ago and how a lot of my specific knowledge and relationships related to Baltimore City and the region are no longer being actively used anymore. I’m drawing on a reserve of more general knowledge I accrued over the years to work in a position that I apply to communities and places around the USA. This means, basically, that all the knowledge and expertise I learned about Baltimore and city government is on the shelf. I had created an identity for myself of being a Baltimore booster and a local expert. I made many contacts and relationships and was extremely well-networked. This identity or brand building carried on to my next employer, a local health system, where I still applied all my skills and relationships for the betterment of Baltimore but in more focused areas and with slightly different toolbox. I am very proud of the work I did for the health system and I was recognized widely for the quality of my work through awards, like Maryland Top 100. I always felt like I could be doing more or doing something different. Now, I’m in a new role and none of that really matters. None of those people, or at least very few of them, that I saw, spoke to, had connections with, are part of my daily life now. I keep in touch with a few folks I developed real friendships with but it’s strange to walk away, loosen, and let go of ties I held so tightly, sometimes at the expense of other things like family time. Anyway, I hope to write a longer, more in depth post on this topic in the future, but this is a start to sharing and processing my feelings for now. My life has also changed a lot since becoming alcohol-free in 2019 and vegan in 2020.

Shell Painting – Shell Painting turned out to be a lovely afternoon activity. We had some leftover paints from a neon rock painting kit Kendall got for her birthday. We couldn’t quite get moving on plans for the day so I just started painting. The kids soon followed. We found some pretty decent looking shells at Tower Beach yesterday so the kids felt some ownership over the shells and which ones they wanted to paint. It was so fun. I like to be creative. I think it’s always a good use of time to let creativity flow and to have supplies on hand to create. I found some inspiration from Tammi Salas, artist, about being a little creative everyday or in small ways and making art even if you aren’t an expert artist.