Since October...

Since october a lot has happened, and the process of divulging relationship tumult, travel experiences, and life development seems exhausting. So I'll explain as needed, which will save both of us some drama and heartache. Some things need to be held inside a little bit longer before I find words to process them out onto a screen--and that is acceptable, needed, and healthy.

I'll start with where I am this summer.
Three months ago this summer was going to be the best. I was going to be working at a camp, or traveling to the Middle East, or working with sex trafficked women . . . and none of that really worked out. And I realized (through prayer, conversation, and my own ingenious rationality) that I was being lead to be home and to rest for the summer. Wow.

So here I am. Working two super-super-part-and-a-half-time jobs, helping my parents organize, sort, clean, and maintain our home, and reconnecting with old friends. It's been about a month, and it still seems super uncomfortable. I missed research papers, and roommates, and the CTA, and walking everywhere, and cooking for myself (sorry, mom). But it's also been a process in finding the difference between wasting a day being lazy, and spending a day preforming tasks that allow me to rest, meditate, and grow.

It's been a process of settling into something I tend to avoid--down time. And that has been healthy.

A lot of this blog is going to serve as a tracker for my in the following two-and-a-half months on what I accomplish, what works, what doesn't, and how I intend to keep certain activities in my life when I return to the hectic world of Chicago.

It's a process I have never gone through before. I'm used to programming and being told when to go to bed and wake up, used to having daily schedules which dictated my whereabouts. And now--it's all on me. In a lot of ways I am my own summer camp counselor. Which a weird analogy I will never make again.

So here are my summer goals:
walk places
read books that grow my understanding of Theology, the World, and what I can do.
Reflect on these books through journaling
stay up-to-date and reflective on what is going on in the Middle East (did we all know that Fatah and Hamas are together now?)
craft (a lot, this can include baking)
and spend quality time with people doing things that I enjoy--and honesty with this.

That's all for now.