A Simple, Beautiful Bucket List

This post kind of follows on from my previous one.  A lot of my thoughts lately have been revolving around our everyday life and how I want to be spending my time.
What are the most important things in your life?
Are you making them a priority?
I feel like it's easy to list the things that we love, but are we consciously, actively including them as part of our days?  If not, why not?

Every single day, I am trying to make time for things that I truly love.  I have written before about our society's tendency to glorify being busy and how much I try to push against that as my norm, although, to be completely honest, I am still far more busy than I would like... but that's just #workingmumlife and also #mytoddlerisahurricane.  Enough hashtags? OK, cool.

I love the simple life.

There is almost nothing I love more than a day at home with Reid and Isaac, just hanging out together with no functions, no plans, no commitments.  I have realised I need to make more time for my favourite things.  We are coming up to a busy time of year, where I know this will be harder and harder to do, but it's something I feel like I need to prioritise.  The feeling of slowly burning out is something I really want to avoid, and in order to do that, I need to listen to what my body and mind is needing at all times.  There is so much pressure to conform to certain standards and activities and structure when it comes to parenthood I have found, but Isaac is never happier when he is with Reid and I at home, playing and "helping" and eating and just generally running around and talking non-stop.  So, that obviously needs to be a priority for us.

I feel like my more low-key, everyday wishes deserve their own "bucket list" of sorts.  Instead of big dreams (which are also great, I do have those too), I want to record and acknowledge the little, readily achievable things that fill my cup and make me feel good on a regular basis. Some may sound ridiculously simple, but writing them down and making a really conscious effort to make sure I am doing them helps me stay accountable when I feel myself becoming overwhelmed, overworked and overscheduled.

• Spending time at the beach. This will be easier when the weather warms up, but there is something about the beach that is so revitalising and grounding.  Salty air and sandy toes. What a combo. It's great for Isaac too.
• Reading. I have always been a bookworm. Setting aside time each night to read makes a big difference to my sleep quality, rather than scrolling on my phone before bed...  
• Poetry. I love poetry. I love reading it and writing it and examining it.  It is good for my brain and my heart.
• Being at home. I love our home. I love pottering around, cleaning and cooking and washing (weird? Kind of). I love rearranging and creating areas I want to be in.  I love lazing on the couch or on our bed with a book or my laptop or watching TV.  I love it when Isaac says "are we going to my home now?" when I pick him up from childcare and I love that the four walls around us will continue to be a comforting, familiar, loving place for him (and for us).
• Coffee dates. Is there anything better than really good coffee? Nope. No there isn't. Great company while drinking said coffee makes it even better. 
• Music. Listening to music, writing music, learning music - I love it all. I have been spending a little bit more time at the piano at Mum and Dad's lately, as I am working on a song that I plan to play for an event later in the year. What a beautiful thing to be able to do.  It was hard work when I was doing lessons, Eisteddfods and exams, but now, playing purely things I want to play and creating music I love. It's so good.
• Writing. Obviously, I love writing, but I want to branch out. Not just my rambling thoughts that I write here, but getting back to writing stories and poems and reflections. Journaling. Not just typing, but writing in notebooks, buying nice pens and carrying them and a notepad with me all the time. My brain is busy. Writing helps it to calm down. 
• Living Slowly. Sounds a bit hippy, I know - what does that even mean? I have been reading the book, Slow, by Brooke Mcalary and it's inspiring me in a lot of ways (although I am only a few chapters in). Reid and I have begun the mammoth task of completely de-cluttering our home, which in turn, helps to de-clutter our minds.  This will be an ongoing process, but making a start feels so good - why do we have so much stuff? Shoved into cupboards and boxes never to be looked at but somehow we don't part with it? I am learning to be ruthless with the possessions we have.  Life isn't about "stuff" for us, it's about the things we are prioritising as a little family, working hard to cultivate a positive environment for us and for Isaac.  Don't get me wrong, I am not saying we will never buy things and I definitely wouldn't go as far as saying we are aiming for a completely minimalistic lifestyle, but truly thinking about the things we are surrounded by and creating a slower life will ultimately result in less possessions, and I am happy with that.  If nothing else, it is making cleaning much easier!  I am generally a pretty clean and tidy person (some would say excessively so haha), but less clutter = less crap to move when dusting and that is always a big win in my books.  I also like the idea of living lighter.  We have so much, and most of it we don't need.  Things pile up without us even realising - how lucky are we?? It blows my mind that we live in this way, so significantly differently to millions of other people around the world.  Our excess feels suffocating at times (not just ours, as in, mine and Reid's, but "ours" as a society/country).  But, I digress... I want to live intentionally, tread lightly, raise Isaac to be grateful and not entitled. Not everyone gets to live a life like ours. I appreciate it so much and want to impart this knowledge and feeling to Isaac if I can.
• Family. Reid, Isaac, my parents, my siblings, my nieces and nephew, my grandparents, my friends who are family.  These people are my priority. These are the people I want to spend time with when I can.  I want to make sure the people in my life are enriching it. 

That's quite a short list, I could add more, but it's a really good start.  Seeing things there that are achievable and that make me smile at the thought of them.  I also have a bigger, more "traditional" bucket list, and maybe I will write about that one day, but for now, these are the things I want to do.  Often and with purpose.  What a beautiful life I have the capacity to lead.