4/20/10

The pace of things or why the Mori girls have it right


Holly on Decor8 wrote a recent post about life without the internet that triggered some things that have already been stirring around in me.  Because sometimes life without the internet sounds quite charming.  Not surprising since I'm a self-proclaimed Luddite, who ironically loves her new laptop and works in high tech.

I have long loved blogs and the world that they open is amazing. But starting my own blog has given me a whole other perspective - sometimes fun and sometimes frustrating!

Since I blog and keep up with a multitude of blogs, I can feel caught up in an endless whirl of information and activity.  Everything moves so darn fast.  There is no time to sit and soak. 

I was inspired recently by a blog post on Fairytale Hausfrau about Mori Girls.  I'd never heard of Mori girls, but I was instantly intrigued and I identified with so many aspects. But what stood out to me most was their emphasis on the slow pace of things.  Relishing, loving, living life.

It's something that resonates deeply with me.  But I occasionally find in this frenetic fun world of blogging and online pursuits I lose that joy in doing something, slowly, just to do it...

For instance, as a girl, I kept stacks of top secret diaries, full of doodles and poems and names in code... They captured my own inner world for my eyes only.  It didn't matter to me whether they meant something to anyone else. 

That sort of deliberation, meditation, magical pondering seems gone... I am moving too fast to ponder.

In the blogging class I was recently part of, it was said and I'm paraphrasing "To have a blog, you need to have an interesting life - or if you don't have one, you have to get one.  Blogging forces you to have an interesting life."

I agree with that to a degree. And who wouldn't want to have an interesting life? And yet this push for continual interesting-ness, has a way of pushing out the enjoyment.  We are moving so quickly to present the next thing, to be interesting, to present interesting things for others - do we really enjoy our lives, our little moments?

I think it's a fine line between having an interesting life for myself or having an interesting life for my blog and not enjoying it because I'm trying to please someone else.

So I'd like to take a step back towards that girlhood magic, of doing things because they are magical to me, even if they remain my untold story, or even if, after sharing them, noone else finds them magical.

I want to slow down and soak life in more.  I want to be a little more like a Mori girl. I want to take a walk in the forest.  I want to buy one amazing sundress and one pair of sandals and wear it all summer like a child, instead of endlessly thinking about the next big thing in fashion like an adult woman.  I want to bake a batch of blondies.  I want to soak in lavender bath salts and leisurely read the book of my choice. I want to lounge on the couch, watching Hulu and working on my latest crochet project.  I want to refinish my headboard. I want to sip chamomile rose tea. I want to spend long hours chatting with my girlfriends. I want to use a rainy afternoon to listen to my new favorite music and write by free association.

And I want to do all of this because I want to - not so I'll have something to talk about on my blog, not so I'll appear "interesting" according to someone else's standards. I suppose I feel as if I'm still figuring out where blogging fits in my life and where I fit in blogging. I suppose I'm feeling a little rebellious.

Anybody else ever feel like the tail's wagging the dog? Or am I the only nutty one 'round here?

Well, this dog is taking it's tail back ;-)

8 comments:

  1. Oh this is such an important post... and something that bothers my head relentlessly. We have to do it for ourselves or else something of who we authentically are is lost and our lovely little online scrapbooks of thoughts and dreams and pretties and creative happenstance is diluted by our efforts to imitate. Five years later I'm still lost...

    It's just so bloody hard to put yourself truly out there, but I've said it before and I will say it again, Bohemian Manifesto smacks of authenticity...

    Yey for a little bit of Tuesday morning rebellion...x

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  2. I too recently just found out about mori girls. Their ease and simplicity is something to be desired. I homeschool and the Waldorf education which reminds me of this. Natural living, slowly, soaking in life. The things you want to do sound so comforting and peaceful. There is a blog you might be interested in, because the Mother is amazing in her ability to raise a child and still live very "mori" like. www.littleredcaboose.ca

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  3. I just found out about Mori Girls too and I've become obssessed with them! Its funny, I'm also a (former) homeschooling mom (my kids are grown) and I LOVE all things Waldorf.

    Authenticity. That is something that I really,really desire. I am so tired of all the fakeness and flash and advertising,advertising,advertising that seems to be EVERYWHERE these days. I long to BE authentic and to BE WITH authentic people.

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  4. I read so many blogs that i feel like it's hard to keep up. But I love reading all of them. I've also learned with my own blog to just go with the flow. If i don't anything to blog about, I don't force it.
    I really like what you said about having interesting life for yourself or for your blog. I've been guilty of that. I try to always have an interesting life for myself now! Great blog post!

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  5. hi lover...
    a little something for you
    http://www.thedecorista.com/2010/04/photo-number-sixa-blogging-game.html

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  6. I'm enjoying the comments on this so far...I am also a former homeschooling mom with Waldorfish tendencies.

    I'm glad you enjoyed the Mori Girl post--I'll be blogging soon about the fantastic Mori Girl mook I bought from Uguisu.

    And I so agree with you and share in your struggle to slow down and enjoy life and fun things for the sake of pure enjoyment!

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  7. @ All - thanks for the comments - helps me know I'm not alone in my nutty head!

    @ Alison May - You're one of the bloggers I really admire because it seems you write what you want when you want - things aren't churned out on a schedule. Inspiring to me to follow my muse or shut my piehole.

    @ The Urban Wife - Thx, I will check out the blog! Waldorf - something I know nothing about but sounds intriguing if my late-in-coming kiddoes ever make an appearance.

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  8. Thanks Sweetheart. And repeat after me: you are not nutty in the head...

    Well ok, we all are a bit aren't we? On occasion, I'm completely off mine and I do believe it is my duty as a blogger to let the mad out a bit occasionally...

    Let the mad out as and when you feel like it.x

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