The most boring week in the world?

So, as I've mentioned, I’ve been doing a lot of painting lately.  I’ve spent a couple of weeks painting a bedroom and living room, thanks to miles of dark molding that needed multiple coats of white paint to cover it all.  Because I’m also taking care of foster children before and after my paint shifts, I’m slowed down by that as well.  (My son takes the midday shift with them.)

Since I’ve spent a couple of weeks on two rooms, and I’m looking at a couple of months more of painting, I’ve found myself needing to actively focus my thought life more than ever.

Yes, it’s tedious.  And if I focus on the long view of this project, I can start to feel overwhelmed.  So I have to break the big goal into smaller ones, and work to focus on one smaller goal at a time.

I also have to find and appreciate all the great things about having a long and monotonous job: mainly, I can listen to all kinds of interesting things while I’m working.

I found this great free app called Hoopla, that is loaded with audiobooks.  I highly recommend it!

So far, I’ve listened to True at First Light by Ernest Hemingway, Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond and My Antonia by Willa Cather.  I’m currently in the middle of Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.

They’ve all been interesting, but My Antonia so far has been my favorite.  It’s about a young orphaned boy from Virginia, who moves to Nebraska to live with his grandparents around the turn of the century.  The story tells his reflections of his friendship with an immigrant girl named Antonia, whose family has recently arrived from Bohemia.  It is the story of pioneer families, of rural farm life on the plains, of adapting to a new country and of lifelong friendship bonds. 

One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me was an appreciation for the world of ideas, and a love of reading, which translates directly to a love of learning.  I believe that learning = growth = joy.  If you’ve learned something new, you haven’t wasted your day.

I love to read and listen to beautiful writers.  I get to do this every day while I’m painting.  Aren't I fortunate?

So instead of focusing on miles of molding, I focus on what I get to learn.  I listened to operas last week.  I listened to great literature.  I expanded my boundaries of knowledge.  Up next: a couple of books in Spanish.

Was it the most boring week in the world?  No way!