When does it start feeling like work? Work vs Play!

As for accomplishments,
I just did what I had to do
as things came along.
Eleanor Roosevelt
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There are two sides to every coin. There is not a right side nor is there any wrong side. Just two sides...opposite and equal. The coin I tossed in the air this week was the one with work (for financial gain) on one side and play on the other. Here is how it went...

I have always know that I do things because I can see a reward of some kind. I clean because I like the satisfaction of a task completed. I plant flowers because I love flowers in bloom. I take care of my grandchildren and children because I love them. And I write this blog because it is a way that I can express myself creatively. All of these things are much like eating my dinner...I need them to feed myself in some way. But I ask myself occasionally about how much is fun and when does it become like a job I don't want to do.

The yard can become a chore, too much child care can wear me down and sometimes I just don't care if my house is clean or not. Most of these things I do by choice because they give me joy. Even this blog, my hobby and creative need, can begin to look like a job. Is that good? I don't know.

It seems that it is all in how we describe a job. Is a job something that needs to be done or is it something that pays money so we can live. In my world it is the latter. And this blog is working for me financially. Within the last year I have started to earn some money for writing and for the use of my little "blog store" to sell other peoples ideas and products. It is all good and it still is fun. That is good!

But now people are starting to take me seriously...imagine! I like that but I am being very careful. I don't let just anybody use this space. I only display ideas that I find useful and the question I always ask myself is "would you do this for free if no one paid anything for this type of thing?" If the answer is yes then I discuss the idea with the person that has approached me. But I decline if it doesn't light my fire or if it feels like I would be spinning my wheels.

See I am 70 and I have been retired for 15 years. I like to work hard and be tired at the end of the day but if a job would make me anxious or worried I am going to say no thank you. This is a hobby. I am trying to keep the joy and passion for this room in my life. I don't want it to start feeling like a work place. There you have it!

b

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Five Little Ducks...stories played out!

The children's song about the little ducks leaving the nest to fly away has always been one of my favorites. Every mother has seen their babies fly away and rejoiced. Life comes full circle. Animals live that same cycle. Babies grow up. Birds leave the nest. Life goes on. So when the three ducks show up every year near my patio I am not surprised. But I am puzzled that it always seems to be the same three. Something just doesn't seem right. It appears the one did not fly away at all. Five little ducks Went out to play Over the hills and far away. The mommy duck went "quack, quack quack," Four little ducks came swimming back... And then Three Two and One. A drake, a female duck (a hen) and a not quite a drake but still not a hen gather here on the 5th green of the golf course. She leads and the other two follow along obediently. They eat, sleep, and guard each other. Each and every day this time of year they come. I have not named them. Jinxing them would be very pos...

How to be a 12 Month Snow Bird

Vacation Rental in Mexico I live around snowbirds 6 months of the year. I have heard those people say that they all want to live the "snowbird" lifestyle when they go home. But it just is not possible. They are isolated and cold. Social activities with friends and beautiful weather are greatly missed when they return to the realities of their "real" life. One couple I visited with lately returned to Florida this morning where they own a home. The woman is a nurse and works in the summer. They are not going home until May this year. It is too cold in Michigan in the spring so they are hoping to extend their good weather season by simply staying away. Besides that they love their Florida lifestyle a lot. Last week I visited with a woman that lives the snowbird lifestyle year around. No going home to the Midwest in the spring. They essentially vacation 12 month out of the year. And I thought their solution for avoiding unpleasant weather and keeping their lifestyle in...

If You Build It, They Will Come...Maybe!

It all began with a antique window in front of a local shop. It had been painted yellow, the glass was loose and all of the hinges and latches were gone. My old friend Betty would have approved...she would tell me it was just broken enough and damaged enough for me to drag it home. When my dear husband saw it, he wondered what he was meant to do with it. Imagine his surprise when he was presented with the plan to build a small neighborhood library exchange. It wasn't the first time he had heard me ask "How hard could it be?" Now it is six weeks later and we mounted the darling little library exchange on two posts in our front yard. I love it. Now the question is, will they come or has the time passed when people actually read something made of paper? Our association president stopped by and admired the box but left after telling me that he only read books on his Kindle. We will see. Would you bring a book and take a book? b+

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