What To Do When You Want to Quit

As in quit cleaning the kitchen.

Along with the livingroombathroombedroomlaundryclosethallway.

And in fact to you did quit - two days ago.  The evidence is in the left-over macoroni-n-cheese bowls you had the day before yesterday that are still parked around the kitchen sink.  And except for your Summerfide Mantle your home suddenly is not lovely at all.

And it's 9 pm and you just got the kiddos to bed and your husband is out of town for three days, leaving the 24hour childcare job to....you.  And you've been knee deep in office work lately and the last thing you want to do now is something about the Mess.

Well, FIRST you put the lid back on the Breyers ice cream container, because that's just not helping anything.

Then you might call your Sister (or any sympathetic but sensible person) and tell her how much you don't want to do ANYTHING.

She'll sense that your mental health is at risk and helpfully direct you back to your kitchen sink.

And at this point, in the face of the very ugly mess and as I'm still planted in my desk chair,  I find I need to be reminded of something Beautiful, and the best way I've found to do that is with music.  It's no good at this point (and time of night) to spend more time gazing at pretty pictures on the interweb.  I need to get in touch with my own reality and the possibility of beauty in it. 

So at desperate times like this - whenever I need a good reminder of what loveliness is like - I  listen to something like this soundtrack (love this movie).

As I begin at the kitchen sink, it's like my life gets to have my own personal soundtrack and I begin to want my home (my own little movie life) to match the loveliness of the music. Does that make any sense???

  oi

Last night I actually happily discovered this CD in a old collection of my husband's.  

The music is so Beautiful.

As the first clear, sweet notes played, I was inspired again to Try.  It made a world of difference.

Now, cleaning a very disastrous kitchen still got old pretty quick, so it helped to take a break to take a little walk around the main house area , straightening the couch or the desk, picking up toys and trash.  And then coming back to sink for another go at it.

By the end of the evening my main living area (kitchenfamilyroomlivingroom) - the part that will greet our little family tomorrow morning  - was clean.  It was lovely again.  And words can't express how beautiful it felt.  

But the music does. :)

This approach is definitely a bit romantic, but I hope perhaps it will help you a little when you face your next I'm-quitting-crisis.  
There is HOPE for quitters!

Now onto the bedroomsbathroomslaundryhallway. :)


{Linking to Life Made Lovely}