millward studios

"There is more to life than increasing it's speed."~ Mahatma Gandhi

Blink and your children are grown... blink again and you have 9 grandchildren.Since i've retired, my pace has slowed considerably.... it's not a physical necessity, it's a conscious choice to take a more relaxed pace doing daily tasks.... when i was working and time challenged, these same tasks took a fraction of the time it takes me now....because now i stop and take the time to enjoy the simple things that come along throughout the day... a sort of ' stop and smell the roses' approach...i tell Casey i live a still life, and i love it's stillness....(not to be confused with boring, no, definitely not boring).... in comparing notes on retirement with Melanie, one of my best friends who retired 5 weeks earlier than me, we simply can't believe how much more time we take doing tasks we were once able to get done quickly.... because now, we allow ourselves to be sidetracked by all the nonessential wonderful things we once had no time for.

I am finding though, that i may be taking this slow paced thing a bit too far this Christmas and if i'm not careful, THE DAY will arrive and i will be totally unprepared... for us, THE DAY this year will be Sunday, the 21st...all the kids and grandkids are coming to Christmas dinner at our house and i'm not sure they will understand all this slow paced stuff if it doesn't look a little bit like Christmas' when they arrive.... i haven't done a single thing about Christmas yet except put lights on the tree....no shopping, no presents, no cards, no baking, heck, the tree's been up for over a week with just it's lights and the rest of the house is undecorated as well...totally uncharacteristic for me...i'm usually done with 90% of holiday preparations by now.

Me: we really need to get the ornaments on the tree soon and finish decorating the house

My brain: what's the hurry...we have time

Me: well, last week we may have had the time, but time is running out quickly, we've got visitors arriving next week, we haven't even started shopping or baking or....or......or.....

My brain: ok, ok, i guess we do need to get the tree done today, but first i think i'll... update my blog...or...(do just about anything else but decorate the tree or house)

Now don't get me wrong....i love Christmas and all the trimmings so i'm still not completely in touch with why i'm dragging my feet this year with this tree/house trimming stuff.... i think it feels a bit like work and being a retired florist has a lot to do with that....all the years spent decorating and trimming my shop and displays, getting the holiday centerpiece orders filled, keeping the fresh display cooler full of Christmas arrangements, etc..etc...etc.....i just think i'm a little burnt out on all that decorating and trimming stuff... it's just another task.... the first few years that i wasn't a working florist during the holiday season, it was fun turning all my attention to trimming our home...it was novelty to have the time to spend on home decorating and i loved it... but now, i want to simplify.... slow down....everything..... including Christmas.

All those active florists out there right now know the holidays are a wonderfully crazy time of year...heck, in my shop just watering the poinsettias took hours ( we had hundreds of poinsettias) ....and hundreds more of living pine trees in many shapes and sizes....and you can't just randomly give each plant the same drink or you'll drown some and deprive others...these are living plants and absorb water at their own pace... and a drowning plant presents with the same symptoms as a parched plant, so adding water could be the final blow... at the holidays, a florist's work is never finished, you literally run all day and you have to convince yourself to go home at the end of the long day, finished or not, or you would never sleep.

Definitely not a slow pace... definitely not still...which is why i savor this slow, still life i now lead... i guess i'll just have to accept that Christmas time will always be a bit hectic, but at least, for me, the retired florist, i can now look forward to valentines day, easter, and mother's day being happily taken at my new slower pace.

Well, i guess i've stalled long enough with this extra long post... it's time to get to the tree trimming... wish me luck.