First experiments in reinvention

Kind Promise: To Reinvent Whimsically

It's a sentence begging for noun. What is it I'm hoping to reinvent?

My first instinct is to say "my life" or "myself," but that wasn't what I had in mind. This promise springs from increase in disability. Some things I used to be able to do I can no longer do. Such losses make daily life a series of small frustrations. Some of the lost activities were those I did to feed my soul – to make me feel better. Not only is my frustration increasing, but my ways of coping are decreasing. It's a bad combination.

I added the word "whimsically" because I wanted to bring a sense of fun and foolishness to the process. I have a friend who says, "God created us to look foolish in front of each other." She believes that the limitations of our human bodies are designed to bring us into closer relationship with each other. We sometimes literally have to lean on each other.

So how do I enter this exploration?

After some experimentation, I developed a process. I have an overdeveloped ambition monster, so I needed to put some limits on my urge to begin with a list of 10,000 things. I chose two questions and generated three practical answers and three more philosophical ones, followed by a first action step. The third answer turned out to be a stretch: something I wasn't sure I could accomplish.

Question one: What isn't working for me?

• Driving the wheelchair. [Action: get OT consultation]
• My digestive system (to put it delicately). [Action: research diet solutions]
• Handling/carrying objects (books and papers) [action: design carrier]
• My attitude/toward my day job. [Action: create mental response]
• My jealousy of "normal" people. [Action: create mental response]
• My evening activities/attitudea. [Action: get family input]

Question two: Where do I want to grow?

• My writing/blogging website. [Action: explore WordPress]
• More art. [Action: prepare materials]
• More fun leisure time. [Action: get family input]
• More love/compassion [Action: create mental practice]
• More delight [Action: return to Delight of the Day]
• Lighter touch [Action: create mental practice]

Clearly, I have my assignments. I will check in with my progress next week. I have vacation this coming week – a great opportunity for all this physical and mental action!