Welcome to Dance Till You FLY! mw System Series! If you want to know how I came to figure out a system that would work for most of us, stick around. I am committed to explaining this in the simplest of terms. An E-book is being planned for the future where I will go more into some of the meanings behind all of this home keeping that has boggled many of us through the years. But first…
1. Go back to the beginning. Your first room. Your bedroom.
How does anyone start at the beginning of story when it comes to taking care of your home? How about the first room you were ever responsible for. That would be your bedroom.
Some of us had the room all to ourselves. That was me in this case. The condition of my room at any given time was a result of my actions. Back then it was all about cleaning on Saturdays. I would work very hard at getting my room cleaned on this day and by Wednesday it looked like a tornado had passed through. I lived in this unsettling bedroom at its worse for two more days before cleaning day rolled around again. This pattern continued well into my adult life.
2. Helping Mom clean the family home on Saturdays.
My first job was dusting. To this day I am not a big fan of it. Why? Because I had to. When I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s someone got this crazy idea to do everything perfectly. That is what I learned to strive for. I fell short. Think about it. How can anyone dust perfectly when dust is always in the air? Of course dusting each week made the home look better. Why I hated doing it was if I can’t do it perfectly, why do it at all?
3. Continuing this routine into your adult life with your first time away from the nest.
4. Realizing it wasn’t working for you. You wanted to find a better way.
Even though I have rebelled at this house cleaning thing, I still felt guilty for not becoming responsible and just doing it. The search for a better way began.
Wow! You have heard the saying , “It’s like opening a can of worms!” It is never ending the different ways to go about it. Determined, you begin the process of finding a system that will work for you. That is what I would like to help you with.
If you have a spare notebook laying around the house, I would like you to dedicate it to this series. It is simply a place to write down your thoughts as we go along. Instead of having notes jotted down here and there, the sole purpose of the notebook is to corral information I give to you. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Some day I hope to have a set of forms for everyone to download to make it easy for you. To be quite honest, many of my ‘Aha’ moments came from simply writing in a notebook.
In your notebook, I want you to fill in the blank of the following form I made.
We all have our reasons and it is important to find your own. This will be the foundation in which to build upon.
Next week I will give you more of my journey and ask you to do a task. I want this to be enjoyable for you. My motto is ‘Make it fun, or it won’t get done!’ It is the only way to actually own this thing called home keeping.
What do you do in the mean time? Continue doing what you are doing.
There are two things I invite you to let go of. That is perfectionism and procrastination. Neither are your friends. It is time to ask them to leave. When I finally told each that they were no longer welcome, other doors opened. I am wishing this for you as well. The weight of the two of them has finally lifted. You can now begin by putting one foot in front of the other with a step back or to the side. It is called ‘Dancing.’ Put on some upbeat music and ‘Dance Till You FLY!’ See you next week!
8 thoughts on “Marilyn’s Way Dance Till You FLY Series”
My mother cleaned houses after the eighth grade. She never got to go to highschool because her father had passed away and there was no money. Because of her teenage years I was never told, asked or even hardly allowed to clean. Mom did everything and I kept my room nice. My favorite colors green and yellow and my room was a sunny lovely place. When I got married at 18 I was in deep doo doo as My GGS would say. I didn’t know how to cook or clean or do laundry. I lived in an apartment complex with another girl I went to highschool with. Grandma gave me her wringer type Maytag and I learned how to wash clothes with my friend. I learned how to cook by inviting my little brother for dinner often and the was my test lab because my husband would eat anything you put on a plate. I will write you a note about my home keeping another day and share with you that hard road as I grew up.
I can easily see that happening. She thought she was sparing you when in fact there were things she could have taught you. This happens more than one realizes. Hindsight is alway 20/20.
Yes I would love to hear about your home keeping expereriences. Thank you for commenting.
are we suppos to write here what, we wrote in the notebook?
It is up to you. This is your journey. If you do post it here I know you will be helping others and that is what Dance Till You FLY is about. I want you to start breaking down the barriers of all the ways it should be done and find your own way. By doing this will you begin to finally feel like you have some control in home keeping. Thank you for commenting.
Thank you for sharing, Marilyn. I’m looking forward to next Monday. I’m a Sidetracked Home Executive & Flybaby who is still trying to figure it all out. My day job is caring for my 4 grandkids,(3 of them are now in school all day–but summer break is just around the corner). I gave up gardening 7 years ago when my two granddaughters were born, since two babies and a preschooler kept me busy enough. I’m deciding if and when I’ll try it again.
I am looking forward to the series as well. My goal for the series is to keep it as simple as possible. There are all types of systems out there that cover all the areas. The problem I found for myself is none of them build in a safety net. For me I have had to do this and I will show you how. Some of the things you will be familiar with because it is good information to follow.
As for the gardening, I invite you to start again. After 5 years away from gardening due to my fibromyalgia, I started again. I started slow and built my way back to it. This will be my 4th season. There is something about gardening that heals the soul. I would start out with investing in a few perenialls for your base. I know every year I look forward to my painted daisies. I am so happy they survived during my 5 year hiatus. Maybe you can get the grand kids involved. Who doesn’t love a sunflower fort?
No matter how much I am hurting, I can’t wait to grab my first cup of coffee, walk outside and visit all of my gardens. I love the surprise when an Oriental Lily comes to full bloom. The zinnias I can get lost in. And then come the butterflies, dragonflies, and hummingbirds. I can’t wait to see my hummingbirds again. They love zinnias. Look to your gardening as a hobby. It makes it fun. Thank you for commenting.
Me too! I am excited to show that if you build a few safety nets into your home keeping it becomes less stressful. I was away from gardening for 5 years and started again. This will be my 4th season. It’s the best thing I did for myself. Thank you for commenting.
I got a hand cramp from writing 🙂 I need to write more but my hand cramps up after a few words ;( typing on the computer is different and doesn’t let me pour out my feelings as much as handwritten notes do!
Taking care of myself is tough 🙁 I don’t really know why it matters, besides if i’m not taken care of how is my family and home? You cant truly be taking care of your family if you are neglecting yourself. no showers for days or if you do shower and change clothes, DTS! you just throw your hair in a bun and don’t brush it for days *BLUSH* Taking care of my home matters to me because my husband’s love language is Gifts in the form of Acts of Service. He considers a clean home,a good meal and clean PUT AWAY clothes a gift and even if he’s agnostic, a blessing. 🙂 It matters to me that I make my husband happy with a clean home. My son is 5. I don’t want him growing up in CHAOS or having ‘forced chores’ and living in fear if they weren’t done ‘right’. i want him to grow up in a loving home with no chaos. My top reason for wanting to take care of myself and home is: I want to have a happy home and family, where anyone is welcome, anytime, with open arms an open door and NO CHAOS, I want to FLY!