What Works for Me: Something Normal

Chaos comes in so many forms. Disrupted schedule. Illness. Trips. Major events. And, for my family of late, moving.

One thing I’ve noticed about chaos is that it leaves us feeling like we have to tackle the big in-your-face obstacles before being able to devote any time and energy to the little normalcies of life. At least, that’s how I feel.

In this move, I’ve felt driven to attack the big things. The packing and cleaning. Now the unpacking and setting up. And, specifically, tackling the big unpacking. Those things that make the biggest dent in the chaos. The little things – those little normalcies of life – seem to get pushed aside. I’ll get to those when these big glaring boxes are taken care of.

And all the while, the chaos chips away at my peace.

This morning, I realized something. Sometimes, taking the time to go ahead and welcome even just one of those little normalcies back into my life makes the big chaos less disruptive. So, today, I have embraced a few normalcies.

1. Writing. This is my second blog post of the day – one for the family blog and one for here. I’ve put writing on the shelf for a long time because of chaos. First, it was the busyness of a particular season. Then it was a major project that took a great deal of time and energy. And now the move. There is always going to be something disruptive. If I allow one bit of chaos to chip away at my writing time, I will never come back to it. So, I’m coming back to it now. Today. Yes, before I even have any idea where my desk will go.
2. Calendar. I was in the middle of unpacking boxes when the thought of our big, dry-erase family calendar came to mind. It’s one of those things that typically would be saved until last. It’s not critical, because we keep up with crucial events elsewhere. But, it’s something homey. It’s something we enjoy having. So, I stopped what I was doing and went to hunt down that calendar. It is now on the wall, ready to welcome the activities of our new life, church, and community. Yay!
3. Play & Snuggles. We have been on tight deadlines for several weeks now, and our moments of snuggles and play have been far too brief. We’re all taking turns with bouts of tearful homesickness for the loved ones and home we left behind. This morning, each of my girls had a turn, and they needed snuggles. We curled up on the couch and cried and chatted – for as long as it took. No rushing back to HEDUA work or cutting the snuggles short so I could dive into another box. Just snuggles.
   
   Then my oldest and I took a few minutes to shop on Amazon for something she wanted to buy with birthday money.
   
   This afternoon, my son and I will play together for a little while before I have to get back to either HEDUA work or unpacking. It’s a normalcy. And it can’t wait for the boxes to be unpacked.

As the week continues, I will choose to embrace little moments of normalcy. I will take the time to unpack those things that could wait until later, but would help us feel more at home were I to go ahead and pull them out now. And I will chip away at the chaos by settling in to just living life.

How do you keep your chaos from taking over?