Annie F. Downs asks us today to write a list of five things we like. She includes hobbies, musicians, food, places, and TV shows in her list of suggestions. How easy is it for you to write that list? Would it be easy to share with it everyone?
Is it harder to admit to liking something that might make us look less than what we want to be seen as? I like fictional family saga dramas: everything from TV shows like Downton Abbey to the thick books you see on shelves at airports right up to sci fi stuff like Star Wars, Firefly and Star Trek. It’s the characters I love and following how they respond to the extraordinary circumstances the writers throw them into. As a young wife I was told not to read rags-to-riches-romance as it would turn me off my husband. As pastor once told me that science fiction was ridiculous. So I re-labelled those things ‘guilty pleasures’ and relegated them accordingly. Kept them hidden. I like rock ballads (but not Queen) preferably involving an orchestra. Also assigned to the guilty pleasure closet.
I like walking too, but since it’s socially acceptable to be healthy and love nature, I could add that to my Facebook profile quote openly. Whitesnake, maybe not so much.
If I choose to believe that God made me with my likes and dislikes and he isn’t ashamed of me, why should I be ashamed of the things I like?
The author today asks us to give ourselves permission to really like what we like because that’s part of accepting how God made us. God accepts us as we are and loves us as we are and so we can too. But it will take some brave.
I like space/ time and universe type programmes and books. I like playing the piano (but not to anyone). I like photography. I like going to church (the only one amongst my family and most of my friends) I like cheese and marmite on toast. I like getting my pyjamas on early and drinking tea.
Some people don’t think this is cool or that they are all compatible. I like them anyway. And they all fit together nicely in my mind.
Tea. Cheese & toast. Yes. ❤️
Love Dowton Abbey 😉
I try and tell my son about this concept often. He’s 14 and definitely moving into the stage of what’s cool to be seen doing or not doing. I try to explain to him you’ll be an adult a lot longer than a teen and no one cares when you’re an adult if your hobby is “cool.” Like I posted yesterday, I like the hobbies and interests and gifts God has given me.
That’s so wise… such a great thing to instil in him.
So, I’m a pretty confident, comfortable-with-my-likes individual. I sat for probably 45 minutes trying to think of anything that was a guilty pleasure, a like I try to hide. I could only think of 1, so then my list of 5 became things that I don’t hide from liking, but sometimes can be a source of contention.
1. Dancing Around the House – I like to blare music through the stereo and just let loose to a good tune. I feel judged by my husband sometimes for it, so I don’t do it enough.
2. Nerdy Stuff – I am a hardcore nerd, but definitely not the nerdiest person out there. I just don’t have time to be as nerdy as I wish I could be. I would hands down learn Elvish, but I don’t even find time to learn Chinese, so… I have been in social groups where I felt like an outcast for liking all the nerd things. I wanted to connect with the people in that group, but it seemed like the only thing we had to talk about were Enneagram and Jesus, so a connection never really formed. And that is sad to me, because I always wanted to be closer to this person.
3. All Games vs. Video Games – This is again just a difference of opinion between my husband and me. I could play games literally every day and be perfectly happy with more games. My husband seemingly plays 9/10 of the time because he loves me more than because he likes to play the game. The reverse is true with video games. I enjoy them well enough, but I play them mostly because it is something to do with my husband. Sometimes, this becomes a place of misunderstanding between us.
4. Chocolate – the only qualm with chocolate is its affect on my waistline. My tastebuds and my hips are not in agreement.
5. Early to Bed, Early to Rise – I absolutely LOVE waking up early, having some sweet Jesus time in stillness, silence, just me and Him. The problem is that I married a night owl, and sometimes it feels like I sacrifice my morning routine for quality time in my marriage. It isn’t that I am a morning person; I am a need-consistent-routine girl, and once the routine is broken, it is hard for me to get back into my early morning Jesus time, which just creates a ripple effect.
I love this list. I feel like I know you a little more ❤️
My Five
Creating Music
Admiring Art
Windows Down Solo Driving
Hosting Parties
Deep Woods Hiking
Being around Gods creativity is incredibly life giving, mindset correcting and energy building for me. These days, talk around Gods creative DNA and it’s universality seems played out and thoroughly cliche in some circles but still rings abundantly true in my life regardless of how worn out in the knees the conversation may be.
Each of my five represent some form of creative connectivity that I thirst for on the regular. Whether or not I create the opportunity to engage in them is a different story for a different day.
These five seem pretty awesome to me. Recognising God’s beauty and creativity in art and nature and music; loving people and creating opportunities to connect with them… I’m so glad you can how when we engage fully in the passions God placed in us, we also find ourselves connecting with Him in deep and meaningful ways. Praying you get to connect deeply with God this season, filling up from Him regularly, and you find time and avenue to keep on connecting the way you were made to. Love Tifainé