If you could do anything, what would you do?

This was today’s reflection question on Dynamic Catholic’s Best Lent Ever.  I immediately thought, I can’t think of anything.  I had just woken up.  I texted my sister about it and she didn’t think she’d come up with anything either. I told her that because I don’t have much free time, I don’t really know what I love to do. I’m just trying to keep up with what I think I have to do.

So a little later, I got out my journal and I wrote reading and writing. I know I like those.  To dig a little deeper, I imagined I was single and I didn’t have to work. What would I do if I had plenty of money and no responsibilities to other people? I assumed I would have a tidy, minimalist home and just hours in the day to fill up with whatever I wanted. I set a timer for 15 minutes. Ideas began to come.  It seems I would like to:

Read, Study or Learn

• languages, maybe French, Spanish, Italian, Latin
• certain historical subjects, like Church history, or Colonial America
• the Bible
• about the saints
• spiritual classics
• my family geneology

Go Visit Places

• pilgrimages, such as famous Marian shrines, or back to the Holy Land
• Europe, especially Italy and Paris
• Private beaches, maybe even live on or near one

Do a Few Activities

• hiking with other people (don’t want to be alone in the woods)
• go to Broadway plays, especially musicals
• take walks on the beach and watch the ocean
• a 30 day Spiritual Exercises retreat (and other retreats)
• write and illustrate children’s books

I also had a couple of more personal answers that I don’t want to blog about today. It was only 15 minutes, but this was a good start. I was happy to learn that I do have some interests, and some I could pursue in the near future or even now.

The motivation for simplifying my life (Operation Joyful Space, capsule wardrobes, streamlining home management, reducing distractions …) is so that I can spend more time on things that are important to me. I have been taking care of my family and home for many years. More recently, I have been doing the meditation, eating better and exercising. These things are very important, but that doesn’t mean I always enjoy them.  I plan to share these ideas with Bobby, pray about them, and see what happens. Some of these ideas would seem like work to me at this season in my life, so I would need to choose wisely.