For the last week I’ve been challenging myself to actively join in
the #growingtolive movement, every day. Each day I wrote down what I’d
done to make that day a growing experience, and a few of my thoughts on what I'd done and learned.
Here’s how it started:
We’d gone for a walk
that afternoon, and as we were discussing some Bible verses, something prompted
me to launch into a passionate rant on making the most of what I called some of our
most capable years: 18-25. I said the expectations society puts on them
were crazy. Those years were meant to be a training time, a preparation for
greater responsibilities. I said it was a time to learn, and a time to give,
because that’s the age when you have the most heart to put into things, so put
it into something that matters. It wasn’t until I’d finished spewing my
opinions that I realized: Oh, hello; I’m talking about myself. I’m that age.
What am I doing? How am I making the most of these years?
The same night, I was browsing
a few blogs, and came upon Miss Aaliyah’s latest update of the #growingtolivemovement. I was sitting there contemplating how I could take part in it, when I realized these two topics
were linked. The moral to my rant earlier was that we need to make the most of
these (and all) years of our life. The #growingtolive movement is about making
every day count, and using each day to grow – growing to live, and living to
grow. (Well, that’s my personal interpretation of it, anyway.)
I decided to challenge myself to a week of growing to live.
I purposed to do something every day, mostly something creative, to break the
ordinariness of each day, and just grow and enjoy life. I also planned to look
into what God says about creativity, and growth.
Day One
I wanted to do
something, a creative project, something to stretch myself, and give. But the
day got later, I got tireder, there were things I had to do, and the creative
extra didn’t happen. But I was thinking – the challenge is about living and growing. Looking back in days to come, what will really
matter? I decided that taking my brother to work, taking my mum for an
appointment, helping the ladies at the show hang the quilts and needlecraft
display, playing scrabble with my brother and sister, and doing music practice
was more about growing and living than I could’ve expected. I think the being
creative is only a growing experience if other responsibilities are fulfilled,
and doing things to stretch ourselves is only living if it’s not taking away
from time we should be spending with family. In the end though, I did express
myself creatively – I wrote a (very rough) draft for an article.
Day Two
Today I was determined
to do something new and creative, something untried. My sister and I went to
get the mail, and on the way back I picked a leaf; the biggest, most perfect
leaf I could find. Somewhere in the recesses of my memory I thought it was
possible to artificially skeletonize leaves. I looked it up, and got a general
idea, but I never bothered to look at the details (note to self: it would’ve
helped if you did). I picked some more leaves and put them all in a pot with
water and bi carb soda and left it boiling for a while – autumn soup as the
siblings dubbed it. The autumn soup bubbled away until I inspected a
leaf and thought I’d already overdone it. The idea was to get a toothbrush
and rub at the leaves, and the green bits would fall off and lovely skeletons
would remain. Mostly what happened is I rubbed too rigorously and destroyed the
leaf, or I rubbed and barely got anywhere. It really didn’t work, but I still learned
something, and I kind of got one half a leaf skeleton. Not to be deterred, I put
the water off the leaves into a dish, and soaked some paper in it to dye it,
and use it for stationery. That did work.
Then, if we’re
counting creativity, I made some muffins as well. And they were, I mean are,
gluten-free, and contain beans. And if that turned you off, they are soft and
spongy, and taste nice too.
Probably what I would
consider most enriched my day, was taking photos of the stars and moon tonight.
I went out and noticed how bright the stars were, and the moon looked pretty –
there was only a sliver of it - so I took some photos. Not that photos can ever reflect what it's like to stand under a cloudless sky overflowing with stars.
I’m still thinking: what really turns a
day into really good for me? What makes me feel really alive? Creative
pursuits are good, and completing a project is a good feeling, but I don’t
think that’s a growing to live feeling for me. I want more. What makes me feel
alive is giving, talking about God, stretching my imagination in that line. And
learning, learning about God, and fascinating facts about life and what makes
things happen, and people think the way they do, and why, and how, and how it
all links with God and the way He made us. Perhaps this exercise is more about
finding what I really enjoy in life.
Day Three
Today I enhanced my
normal day experiences by doing violin practice outside. It was slightly
annoying with the sun reflecting off the white pages, and the wind playing with
them at times. But it was good; I might do it again. It just makes life more
interesting, to borrow a phrase from my younger self. :)
I also managed to take
a lot of photos, and I think what my sister and I made for lunch ought to count
as well. We had crunchy baked potatoes, onion and zucchini with lentils in
gravy, and homemade pita-style garlic and basil bread. It tasted good.
Tonight, after working
out some details while in the shower, I made a little card. It already had a picture on it, and I cut out some words and letters from a
magazine and a piece of yellow vellum, and arranged them on the picture. It reads, “Every time I think of you I feel blessed.”
Day Four
I was in the
middle of further investigating our being made in God’s creative image this
morning, when plans changed. So, my growing to live, living
not just existing, doing what makes my heart sing experiences today would be: watching people at the mall, talking to a friend on
the phone, and brainstorming a new idea.
Day Five
Today it was: going to town,
driving with the windows down, doing the groceries, and browsing at the
library. It’s weird because I didn’t want to do the shopping, but when I did, I may have even enjoyed it. Seeing and spending time
with my grandparents and my music teacher also made the day brighter.
Day Six
I cooked something for
tomorrow’s breakfast – cooked apple, and blackberries, with a
meant-to-be-cake-like topping that will hopefully taste delicious - I think that counts.
I also went and took
some photos of the sunrise this morning – it was really colourful, and there
was fog, which always makes things better. And I read a book, which shouldn’t count
because it took me from things I should’ve been doing, but it’s been so long
since I’ve just sat and read a book, and gotten into a story. It was just nice.
Day Seven
Today’s living
experience was a sweet one. :) A friend came over, and she had a few-day-old
lamb with her. I could hear him baa-ing, and I peeked out the back door to see
if I could see him, but no, I couldn’t. All of a sudden his head and neck appeared
from the side of the house, and he looked at me and baa-ed – his questioning
pitiful baa. I guess that was the end of me. :) Later in the afternoon, I fed
him, and then just sat/lay there and talked to him, ruffled him up, and rubbed
him. He started to walk away once, but then he turned around, tossed his head,
and came running back to me, sliding stop and all. Then he curled up next to my
legs, and went to sleep. It started to rain a little so I picked him up and
took him to the veranda, and watched him investigate everything. I always
thought I had no motherly instincts, but I seemed to have proved that my affection for baby sheep is pretty strong. I forgot to mention that he had a brown nose,
and brown spots on his legs, which were too large for him, making him adorably
clumsy. :)
So that’s a brief summary of my week of growing to live! (I
know you’re doubting the brief bit, but the original document was over three
thousand words, so be thankful. :)) I’m glad I did it, because I think I did
learn some things, and try a few things I wouldn't normally take time to do. I also spent a lot
of time thinking about the spiritual side to this, and hopefully I’ll share
some of those thoughts in coming posts. I’m still kind of reeling thinking
about the wonderful way God made us, and that all He wants to do is adopt us
back into His family.
A special thanks to
Aaliyah for beginning this #growingtolive
movement, and if you haven’t seen her introductory post, go and read it
here!
What do you think about the growing to live idea? How do you make each day a
growing experience? What makes you feel alive? And, what’s your favourite baby
animal? :)
P.s A totally unrelated fact, but the talented and inspiring Janie just hosted me on her blog. You can read my guest post here, if you want to, and she also interviewed me here. While you're there, make sure you read some of her writing too - it's always an encouragement and blessing to me. :)
Helene, you finally made it to London! I’m glad you got there, although it was
disappointing to read your description of the empty desolate bookstore. It
would’ve been such a fitting ending to have you arrive at the store you’d so
long imagined, and see the shelves that housed the books, the hands that
packaged your parcels; to see in it action,
a word which must be one of your favourites, it fits you so well. Nevertheless, it was good to
read that you finally made it to London, saw the places you wanted to see,
experienced the city, met friends, and were treated as royalty. Tell me, what
does it feel like to be famous? 
