Dreams, Chores, and Lists

In staying with the "finding my way out of the dungeon" theme, I've decided to quit making my dream a chore, after reading a very wise blog post by Johanna Harness. I thought her idea to make a list of the energy suckers in my life was brilliant, so I'm going to do just that.  Followed, of course, by the things that give me energy.

My Energy Suckers

1. Negative thoughts from other people
2. Laundry
3. Filling out paperwork
4. Cleaning the kitchen
5. Dealing with Dos' decision to move out
6. Budgeting, money, and the lack thereof
7. Getting behind in my work
8. Obsessing about my weight
9. Worrying -- about EVERYTHING
10. Confrontation
11. Being disorganized
12. Worrying about not being good enough
13. Talking in circles
14. Gossips
15. Clutter
16. Being misunderstood
17. Being alone when I'm sad

My Energy Enablers

1. Being silly with The Husband
2. Talking to Uno about art
3. Writing a new story
4. Reading a well-crafted story
5. Spending time with friends
6. Spending quality time with my D90 on a sunny day
7. Working out
8. Finding, and trying out, new recipes
9. Any of the work I do with the NorthStar of Texas Writing Project
10. Museums
11. My Grandma's house
12. Listening to beautiful lyrics
13. Cuddling with The Husband
14. My big cozy chair, my warm red and white blankie, and Charlie
15. Movies that make me laugh
16. The perfect shade of eyeshadow
17. A pair of rockin' shoes
18. Le Madeleine's
19. Panera Bread
20. Book stores
21. Helping someone become a more confident writer
22. Helping people find a nutrition plan that works for them
23. Eating clean
24. Listening to Garrick talk
25. Devin's wonder at all things bright and shiny
26. Damon's love of art
27. Dos' amazing mind
28. Chocolate pie (I girl's gotta have SOME vices)
29. The way The Husband looks at me
30. Wide open spaces
31. Warm sunshine, clear sky, soft breeze
32. Waking up from an amazingly detailed dream
33. Dreaming about teaching writing - and nothing else
34. Dancing
35. Singing obnoxiously loudly in my car
36. Making plans, lists, organizing ideas
37. Research
38. Being in class, learning anything new
39. Poetry

I think I could continue these lists infinitely, as the more I think on them, the more things I think of, and around and around again. More than likely, I'll turn the lists into their own page, and update as the ideas come. It is nice to see that there are more things that give me energy than take it away. At least - more things I can remember!