Filling My Box

I've been thinking about hobbies. Recently I've been very sensitive about how I spend my time. I've decided that scrapbooking is just not worth it to me anymore. I love making things with my hands and being creative, but it's such a messy activity, with so little progress (each page takes so long), that I've given it up.

What can I be excited about? I have people in my life who I admire because they have things they are passionate about. Photography. Sewing. Interior design. Cooking. Adoption. Church callings. I don't really have anything like that. I like a lot of things ... Reading. Writing. Women in scripture. Health. Poetry. Decorating. Blogging. :)

There's a part in the movie Eat Pray Love where Liz discovers Delia has a box of baby things. It was her little obsession, while she waited for the right time to have a child. Liz admits she has a similar box full of national geographic articles and the Times travel section ... a box full of places she wants to see before she dies.

So I've been wondering if I had a box what I'd fill it with. What matters to me?

Scripture Study -- It matters to me that I'm familiar with the canon. I want words and phrases and doctrines to be ingrained in my mind and heart so I can teach my children easily.

People & Cultures -- I almost double majored in Sociocultural Anthropology at BYU. I love to learn about other countries, what life is like for the people who live there. I should care more about politics, but I don't understand most of it and what I do understand frustrates me. It's not a battle I've selected to wage war over. But I think it's important to learn about all God's children; what they believe and what they live for.

Biography -- I really love biographies. I read all about people I admire, people I've never heard of, people I think are the polar opposites of me ... It's always an enlightening experience for me to watch someone's journey of choices. I enjoy seeing them go from point A to point B, learning and growing and becoming along the way. That's fascinating to me.

Writing -- For my entire remembered life I have been drawn to words. I had a pseudo typewriter when I was little and I'd copy my favorite books, typing the pages word for word. I have a memory of my mom telling me I should write stories that haven't been written already ... but somehow the passion is made soggy in fear. Not fully drowned, but at least desperately water-logged.

Nature -- I love documentaries about plant and animal life. It's a perfect medium for me because I hate dirt so much. :) I could fill a box with cool parallels of light and living that are found in nature. No, I couldn't. I just made myself laugh out loud. To be passionate about that I'd have to go out in it ... Non mi piace.

Nature

Is it weird that I don't feel like I have anything box-worthy? Maybe my scripture study and all the talks I've collected and the books I've read are kind of an intangible box for me. It's really the only thing I can think of that I care so much about. I'd just love to have a passion ...

Eldon knows a lot about health and the body and I'm so attracted to that characteristic of his. What do I know, though? Sometimes I feel like I only ever cook and clean and help my child survive from one day to the next.

Something has to change in my life. I need a spark. I'm going to pick one.