For goodness’ sake let’s experiment and practice! ~The Home Economics Omnibus
True confession time. Sometimes when I read the blog postings of younger women trying to live like a mid-century housewife, I gasp out loud and say “But, you can’t do that!” when they share their adventures teaching themselves how to sew by redecorating the entire house or making a suit for their husbands and so forth. Or, their adventures in teaching themselves how to cook. In my mind, they are jumping off of the diving board without checking to make sure there is water in the pool.
But, you know what? They are doing “that.” And doing it successfully. Why? Because it is an adventure for them…they don’t know they shouldn’t be able to do it and so they do, indeed, do it.
It makes me wonder where my sense of adventure and the willingness to experiment is. Where is my willingness to try something and be okay with it not working? Where did I get the idea that I have to be perfect right out of the starting gate?
When the Home Economics Omnibus was telling us to experiment and practice, it was talking about learning how to be a hostess. But I think the idea can be transferred to other areas of my life, too.
The next time my mind chatter tells me I can’t do something, I’ll thank it for its opinion and remember that I can at least experiment and practice.
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Strangely, I was just thinking along these same lines — that when I was younger I would undertake anything I wanted to do. Those ratings — beginner, intermediate, advanced — didn’t mean a thing to me if it was something I wanted to do. I took a tailoring class and made my husband a sport coat. I made myself a wool blazer. But now I can’t finish my first quilt. Why? Because it’s horrible. I won’t let myself move on because of the money and time I’ve invested.
I notice I’m more cautious in what I undertake these days. I consider well how I want to invest — both time and money.