Sunday, January 16, 2011

A New Direction

Tonight I picked up a book that's been sitting on my shelf for a while. It's called The Ultimate Career: The Art of Homemaking by Daryl Hoole. I've read parts of this book in the past but tonight a few things I read caught my attention and they've caused me to think about my life.

I'm not a good housekeeper. Anyone who's been to my house knows that. I'm not a complete slob but I'm definitely on the slob spectrum. I always have been. Dad, if you read this post, you will be able to attest to the truth of that statement. I don't want to be a slob but I have habits that make it difficult for me to change.

So, tonight I opened this book thinking that I need to make some changes in the way that I run my household. I turned to the first page and the first sentence in the introduction is a quote by a Samuel Johnson who was a writer and literary critic in the 18th century. He said, "The ultimate result of all ambition is to be happy at home." That hit me pretty hard. I am often not "happy at home" and one of the reasons for that is the mess and clutter that I live in. I have a hard time finding things when I need them and I'm often stressed by the overwhelming feelings that I get when I look around at everything I need to do. I'm often grumpy with the kids because they have picked up many of my bad habits and it makes for a perfect storm of chaos and clutter.

After thinking about all these things I've come to the conclusion that I want to make this my new goal and motto: Happy at Home. I'm hoping to use this blog as a way to keep track of my progress, ponder on ways to achieve happiness at home, and share any ideas that are successful. I'm excited about this and have high hopes. Here's to being happy at home.

3 comments:

Julie J. said...

I love that quote! Thanks for sharing it. I'm so excited for this.

LD said...

You can do it, yes you can! "Happy at Home" is a struggle for most of us I think or I at least I hope so or I'll cry :)

Tamara said...

I love it! I can't wait to hear more! Well, I started on this post so maybe I'll hear more that is already been said. I hope I can learn some things from you on your journey as well.