Quote of the Week

 

This says it all 💚

It's time to do some packing....but not necessarily the packing you think I'm talking about.

 When I was a theatre major way back when, one of the tools we used for character development was called packing.  One of my professors, John Gulley, was huge into packing.  This is where you take the character that you are given in a script and create a whole person from that.  Yes, you know the basics of who the character is but in order to connect more personally with the character, you create his history.  You create the story from where the character came from.  What made him who he is today.  You give the character qualities based on the history that you create.  And this all has to be supported by the text.  For instance, I could not say that Romeo was an alien life form coming to earth to discover the secrets of teenage love because that is not what Shakespeare has written.  But I could create past experiences Romeo has had because of the Capulet/Montague feud that have affected his life and help him to become the young man that he is at the start of the play. That's packing.  When I had my first big role in theatre at UNCG, I knew every aspect of the character.  I had created a backstory that made sense and fit who Doug was.  It was fun and added layers to my performance.

That is what I want to do with my life in a way.  Not completely though because I will not be making up my history because it is already there.  But I do need to use my personal history to lay the foundations of my future self.  It's not like that is not already in progress every day.  Our pasts shape our lives.  I just want to recognize it more.  I think about the events in my life that have truly shaped who I am today and I want to use those experiences in a positive way to create a better version of myself.  I think about the kind of person I am striving to be, the qualities I want to see in myself that I have not really attained yet and use the packing tool to give me goals to fill in those gaps.  Of course I would love for others to see those qualities too, but my main goal is for me.  It may sound silly to think of oneself as a character in a play, but it makes sense in my mind.  

This is all about becoming a better version of myself.  It is not that I believe I am currently a bad version of myself.  Not at all.  I am liking myself more and more every day.  I am enjoying spending time with myself.  I just want to live my best life possible.  When changes happen, both good and bad, I will be in a more complete place to roll with the punches and use those changes to be the person I want to be.  We shall see how it goes. 

Still in the bedroom

 

I will admit that I have gotten away from my one drawer at a time project this summer.  I simply had other things I needed to get done but I also decided to slow some things down in my life.  As much as I love checking items off of lists, it got to the point that it was weighing me down some.  I was not taking time after work to just relax and let myself chill.  I had to come home and keep going so that I would be productive.  Some days that worked, but other days it did not. And this project is one of the things that got put on the back burner once I realized that I needed to take better care of myself each day. So this month, my goal is to pick up where I left off and keep going one drawer at a time.

The last thing I worked on was in my bedroom.  I lumped my clothes together because they are in different spaces throughout my bedroom and I got rid of everything that I could no longer wear.  It was more than I anticipated it would be but it gave me some good new space.  And I have not filled up those spaces with more new clothes.  I'm happy with what I have and will wear it until it's either worn out or I cannot wear it anymore. Hopefully the latter will be because the clothes are too big and not too small LOL So I will continue to work in my bedroom for the moment.  

I recently rearranged the furniture in there because I needed a change. I absolutely love how it turned out and it has definitely given me more floor space.  The room feels bigger. When I moved the bed, I found several containers of items that belonged to Michael.  I put them out in the garage with a few of his other things.  And I saw that there are still several containers under the bed that need to be gone through.  That will be my next few things to do with this project.  Hopefully I will find some fun things I had forgotten about and also things to let go of.  We shall see!!

Today's Moment of Mindfulness

 

Allow the telephone to ring three times before you reply, so that you can become aware of your breath and speak form a centered and calm space. 

Movies of Tim and Dolly

 The entire world felt the loss of Dolly Parton earlier this week.  While these things are inevitable, there was still no preparing for it.  She was an amazing artist and an even greater person.  And then the next day we lost Tim Curry.  He's a personal favorite of mine simply because of my obsession with Clue.  There have been many lists posted this week about Dolly and Tim, and it got me to thinking of the films that they made that I have not seen yet.  I will have to add these to my Friday Night Movie nights!

1. Passed Away 

2. Legend 

3. Three Men in a Boat

4. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas 

5. Ferngully; The Last Rainforest 

6. Unlikely Angel 

7. The Hunt for Red October 

8. Smoky Mountain Christmas 

9. Straight Talk 

10. Christmas On the Square

Today's Moment of Mindfulness

 

True meditation is constant awareness, constant pliability, and clear discernment. 

Recipe of the Week - Meatball Sub Casserole

 This is a recipe from Allrecipes.com. I was watching one of their YouTube videos on easy casseroles because you know I love a good casserole. This was one of them and so I thought I would try it.  And let me tell you it is good!!!  I have made it twice in the past few months and have thoroughly enjoyed it.  Those that I have shared it with also liked it so it's not just me LOL  It's easy and delicious.  I hope you will give it a try because I really think you'll like it!

Meatball Sub Casserole

1 loaf of frozen garlic bread, cooked and cubed

1 bag frozen Meatballs

2 jars marinara

1 chopped onion

Shredded Mozzarella

Grated Parmesan

Sauté onions.  Add meatballs and marinara and heat through.  Layer casserole dish with garlic bread.  Sprinkle both cheeses on top.  Distribute meatballs and sauce over bread.  Top with rest of cheese.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

*I also like to add cooked mushrooms to mine.

** I have also used Texas toast in place of garlic bread and it works well, too.  I prefer the garlic bread but it's still good!