The New Normal – New Goals

Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

The New Normal – New Goals

Many of the goals I’ve had for years still make sense –

• Steps per day

• Books per month

• Mindfulness (meditation and Zentangle) every day

• Weight control

• Writing (words) per day

• Giving back

But the way I achieve them might be different…the balance has shifted. For example – the steps are now all on my own instead of being part of hiking during volunteer gigs. I have increased my reading a little….it fills time that I might otherwise fill watching too much news. Mindfulness has shifted toward Zentangle – I think because I am trying new patterns…invigorated by the increased variety. My husband and I are changing our eating habits…what better time to do it than when we are at home for every meal; I’m not sure he is losing weight, but I am (slowly). I find myself writing about different topics these days because I am filling my days differently. The most substantial change in my goals – and one I am still struggling – is with giving back; my volunteer activities are gone right now (and probably until a vaccine is available) so I find myself paying more attention to financial donations – but it’s not the same.

Now – as we’re entering the 2nd phase of our ‘stay at home as much as possible’ – I’m thinking of new goals for this summer and into fall.

Maintain our vigilance re COVID-19 preventions: distance from other people, face mask, hand washing, no face touching…still at home as much as possible. We are getting out for groceries and CSA pickup….but still taking precautions.

Enjoy the covered deck to relax outdoors. I’ve always wanted to use our covered/screened deck more…but I haven’t. Now I have established a goal to be out there at least an hour every morning which I started on June 1. So far – it’s been nothing but positive. I choose the hour that is the best temperature and usually our cat joins me. Bird song and walls of green leaves…best hour of the day!

Do more for the yard than mow the grass. I learned to mow leaves last fall and have taken over mowing at least half the yard from my husband so far this summer. Now I am ramping up to do more clearing out of the flower beds and trimming of bushes and trees.

That’s enough for goals…if I am comfortably achieving all of them through the next month…I’ll add to the list later.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Getting to know my daughter’s cat virtually. I am in Maryland…my daughter is in Missouri…and that’s where the new cat in the family is. My daughter has been texting pictures to us. The cat was supervising the lawn mowers this morning. Even in a pandemic – grass mowing is something that must go on.

Tom Roberts paintings. A little art…a little history. Internet Archive has a 171 image slide show of his paintings. He was Australian and painted portraits, places, and activities of his time. The last category was probably my favorite….and is reflected in the sample images I’m including with this post.

A Zentangle Prompt

Two patterns today: GINGO and TUMBLEWEED. I like both these patterns (although I usually just use one of the tumbleweeds as a string rather than a ‘pile’ of them).

Here is a tile I made yesterday based on the prompt: Three patterns for today’s tile: SAFFLOWER, SQUID, and TRIADZ. This was the first time I used SAFFLOWER patterns in a garland. They do very well for the border of the tile!

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.