___
“Once you’re gone, your mark is what you’ve done, but some of that is how you’ve done it.” Dathan Ritzenhein
___
In what facets of your life do you insist on a particular method; where does form become beauty, industriousness, and purpose?
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Handmade Homeschool 
Parenting, without a doubt.
For example, when my parents die, they will leave ten children, all of them functioning members of society. I hope to leave my children as three functioning members of society when I die. However ‘how I’ve done it’ is of utmost importance to me. My children will not have had to become functioning members of society *in spite of* me.
Parenting mindfully, joyously and patiently (for the not so joyous moments) turns what some parents view as a necessary evil, or a mandate from God to ‘mold’, into an exercise in beauty, industriousness and purpose. At least for me.
Producing my own food. It is important to me that I do this in ways that are sustainable. That the method is about more than producing healthy food for us but also for producing healthy soil, treating animals well while they are alive, etc. etc.
I think about my friends when I think about what I’ve “done”. I often do as much as I can to help my friends when they say they need it.
I have one friend that I invite over once a week ever since she got a divorce. I know that she doesn’t eat healthy, so I make her a home cooked meal. Just this week a friend’s mother died and I drove over three hours to the funeral to support her – plus taking care of their doves while they are gone for a week. Last weekend, I helped another friend move into their first house – there was only 3 of us to move everything.
My husband often calls me a push-over and thinks they may be using me – after all, whenever they ask me for help, I’m there for them. But I see it as being generous – I tend to think of Melanie in Gone With the Wind. Remember her kindness and generosity? When I’m gone, I want my friends to remember how generous I was in helping them. That would mean a lot to me…