A Bedtime Reading Revelation

A couple of weeks ago, I had finally finished reading the book I had been reading at bedtime for the past several weeks, and decided that I wanted to read Bram Stoker's Dracula, which I've always wanted to read and which I had downloaded a couple of months ago for free. That Saturday night I snuggled up in bed with my Kindle and read a couple of chapters before my eyes were so heavy that I had to sleep. I had such troubled dreams that night about wolves and creepy, red-eyed historians that I had no choice but to blame the book. Apparently, I am far too much of a chicken to read Dracula right before bed, which is the only real time I have for leisure reading these days.

Unable to make a choice about what book I wanted to read instead, I decided to get caught up on some of my magazine subscriptions and started reading my October issue of Yoga Journal. Perhaps because I haven't been able to run very much lately and because its that time of year - less sunlight, more grading of midterms, the feeling of too many responsibilities and not enough time to handle them all - I have been feeling extra anxious and extra rushed.  As I was I was reading, one article in particular really resonated with me. Maggie Lyon Varadhan's piece "Trickle Down" about connecting with the sacredness of every day life. The author suggested that by approaching the mundane as sacred we can open ourselves up to moments of peacefulness and grace.

This article spoke to me. I don't know about you, but I could certainly use more peace and grace. Lately I've been feeling so rushed and overwhelmed that I have been approaching too many things with haste and some with lack of care. My mental state and my home had both become messy as a result. What if I even approached grading midterms, putting away dishes, and flossing my teeth with the intention and appreciation of a sacred act? It might take more time to get through a stack of papers or to send an email, but it might be worth it. I might do a bit less but be able to give and to get a bit more.

So I'm trying to retrain myself to approach things on and off the mat differently and, if nothing else, to remember to take a pause and to breathe.  

A New Name and Adventures in Minimalism

After some thought and some hemming and hawing, I decided to change the name of my blog to "The Running Historian". The URL will remain the same, as will the focus. I'll still post about running, writing, goals, the occasional kitchen experiment, travels, and miscellaneous musings about yoga, teaching, puppies, and shoes.

This is part of a more wide-sweeping series of gradual changes that I'm attempting to make. I am far from a minimalist, and I tend to be turning increasingly into a pack-rat as I get older. I have stacks of academic clutter everywhere (books, papers to grade, journal articles, notes to myself), a closet jam-packed full of clothes and shoes, and a fridge that constantly requires master Tetris skills to get something into or out of it. But I yearn to become better organized and less like an episode of Hoarders in the making. So I'm taking baby steps. About a month ago I decided that I needed to strictly enforce a rule that for every item that comes into my closet another item must go out. This was after my partner (gently) mocked me for continuing to wear holey underwear after purchasing new ones.

After throwing out a number of my old knickers, I decided that the volume in my closet is just too great. And over the past couple of weeks I've spent a few minutes here and there taking inventory of my closet and my dresser and bagging up some nice but unloved clothing to take to Goodwill. I just went through my shoe collection today and purged a number of pairs that I haven't worn in a long time and can't foresee wearing any time in the next year. And I changed the name of my blog. Like I said, baby steps -- but steps nonetheless.

Now I just have to get those bags off to Goodwill....

What about you? Are you a minimalist maven or a borderline hoarder? What organizational tips do you have if you are in the former category for someone who tends toward the latter category?

Some Changes

In an effort to streamline some things, I've made a few changes to the blog and to life in general.  After more than a year and a half at another blog, I've said goodbye to that corner of the internet.  I'm feeling a little bit blue about it, but I know that it was the right thing to do.  I changed my blogging name to "Raquelita" a diminutive form of my name and one that has significantly more personal meaning than my old moniker  For now I've also decided to get rid of twitter.  I might start a new account here in a month or so, but sometimes I feel too connected to the virtual world and as though I'm just moving through the real one.  I want to live more in the moment than I sometimes do.  I want to savor my food instead of mindlessly chewing it while I type.  I want to have more meaningful conversations with friends in person and on the phone (or skype) instead of hastily exchanged emails.

I stayed with old friends this past weekend, and I'm also feeling a little bit lonesome and homesick for people and places today.   I'll post my race report tomorrow.  This evening I'm playing catch-up on a bunch of tasks that really should have been done before I left for my race.

When will we get the 27 hour day?  Have you embraced minimalism in your choices of technology and social networking?  How have you gone about doing so?