Life before 2008 30 Jul 2007 12:53 pm
The Art of Reinvention
I’ve been thinking a lot about personal reinvention: the decision to change one aspect of life intentionally and taking the steps necessary to bring it into fruition. It’s essential to Living Deliberately…we see what we want to change and we set out to do so, one element/day at a time.
A while back a friend clipped the following quote from an issue of Sky Magazine. I’ve had it taped to my office wall and read it frequently.
“…the fine art of reinvention- that is, what can happen when circumstances permit you to evolve. Or, perhaps, force you to evolve. By ‘reinvention’, we mean specifically taking something that already exists and seeing what it can become. The creative process is very well-celebrated. Less so is the reinventive process, the adaptation….”
I am adapting a few things in my life right now…. designing a career, learning on a sharp curve new things every day, reducing distractions so that we can stay focused….
Anyone changing things in their lives, reinventing themselves or choices intentionally? Care to share?
on 30 Jul 2007 at 1:57 pm 1.Dr. Hibiscus said …
I think I would say that parenting is what takes the greatest effort and attention when it comes to reinvention. I say this because parenting is not static - you aren’t one kind of parent one day and then decide to reinvent your parenting skills to a different level and leave it at that (like resolving to recycle, or eat more vegetables). Parenting requires reinvention monthly, weekly, daily, even minute to minute. I find being a good parent the greatest and most important challenge in my life, and I go both forward and backward in my evolution as a father (hopefully I’m moving forward more often and farther than backward, but every day is a challenge).
My daily reinventions come in matters of detail. Instead of reading one chapter to Duncan before bed I have recently resolved to read until the time seems right to stop - not to be constrained by a preconceived notion. With Jesse I try every day to listen better - to stop thinking I KNOW what he’s going to say and cut him off, but to fully listen and think before I reply. With Laurel it’s a matter of not “taking her for granted”… She is such a sweet and loving child that she’s not much of a squeaky wheel. I have to remember to give her as much time and attention as I can even when she doesn’t demand it.
on 30 Jul 2007 at 4:04 pm 2.Tia said …
Very good reminder! Our parenting is constantly adapting and fluxing to take those little changing individuals into account. Thinking out loud…ways that I reinvent my parenting style in deliberate ways….
~high touch. Lots of intentional hugging and touching going on; busy lives can mean it’s easy to not be in close personal contact and it’s sooo important
~deliberate listening, which means, “shut up”
~recognizing stage changes. Sooo many times I realize that I’m treating them like they are younger than they are and discouraging development/change. Kids need different things at different ages and it’s okay to change to allow for those needs!
time to go think about things like….dinner
on 01 Aug 2007 at 8:52 am 3.Queenofthehill said …
I get so frustrated by my real need to reinvent (several aspects of my life), because I consistently fail to follow-through. I was stung by Tim’s 212 degrees video - how do you get that extra degree: http://www.richestpeopleinamerica.com/2007/07/31/one-degree-hotter/