A Year of 'No'

This is the prescription prescribed by my dear friend Sheila.  It's one that she's taken and it's done wonders for her.  In her year of 'no' she's taken so many cool embroidery classes and learned some cool things and made some wonderful things.

What is a year of 'no'?  It's the sabbatical that an 'over-volunteered' person needs to take to keep one's sanity.  That's saying 'no...i'm sorry...i can't volunteer to do that' and focusing on what would satisfy one's personal goals.

It all starts out very simply when your child first enters elementary school.  You hear the simple call from the teachers and the parent teacher organization (PTA, PFC, PTO, whatever) that they need a volunteer to do 'X.'  You volunteer to 'X' and the next thing you know you've volunteered to do 'Y' and 'Z.'  And then you feel like you're stirring a pot of alphabet soup.

These days that's where I've spiraled to.  In the last 5 years, I've compacted 2 years as treasurer for the swim team, 5 years as treasurer for the swim club and 3 years as treasurer for our school's parent faculty club.  In retrospect, that's a lot to do as a volunteer.  I did enjoy it and I do feel that it was a worthy cause.  But the 'I'd be happy to do that' with a spring in one's step has now turned into 'Why do I have to do that?' with dragging feet.

So, here I am going to start my year of 'no'...or rather...a slow snail's path towards the year of 'no.'  Because technically, I haven't been able to pass all my volunteer duties on to another and there isn't exactly a line of volunteers out there jumping up and down saying 'ooh me...i'll volunteer.'

What do I plan to do with my year of 'no'?  I've got a whole list of things to do.  Half home related (like de-cluttering and redesigning and gardening).  The other half craft related (quilting and sewing and stamping and more).

And maybe I'll be able to do a little more blogging. ;)