Redefining Lilliput

I chose the name Living in Lilliput for my blog because of the story of Gulliver on the island of little people. Lilliput, in my definition, is the land we parent-giants must negotiate among the miniatures and their accessories.  Just as that experience evolves and I learn about what Lilliput is,  I feel the time has come for an evolution of this blog.

Months ago I attended a media movie screening my husband has access to through his job in radio, where I noticed I was the only woman in attendance.  The imbalance was obvious enough to be the topic of preview conversation among the other critics, who laughed about how there are no “serious” female critics in Utah, only those “silly bloggers” who use their credentials to get in to the Twilight films.  Having a strong background in analysis (ask my poor husband, who has to endure a 20 min deconstruction of every film we’ve ever attended, EVER), I felt a gauntlet had been thrown down and I’ve chewed on the idea of being the one to take it up.  Critics have to have thick skins though, and I’m not sure I can go there.  I’m still worrying the idea like a dog with a bone.  And I'm posting my first movie review later today....  yikes. 

On another topic, I’ve had people from different parts of my life ask if I would write down the story of my somewhat unique fitness journey.  This also intrigues me, though it opens up a personal side of my life that is frightening to make so public.

And so I started planning the launch of a fitness blog, AND a movie/lifestyle blog, and I wondered and debated with myself about what to do until one day, as I was redesigning the header for this blog, my blog which I’ve written for years about being a mom, that I don’t need several blogs.  My life isn’t several lives – though it is often a strange combination. (I wondered one day, as I was sewing a pioneer dress what Matt & Kim, with whom we’d hung out backstage at their concert the night before, would think of my coolness factor if they could see me at my sewing machine!) Living in Lilliput contains precisely everything I want to write about. Yes, the craft stuff, but also the books and the concerts and the films and the insanity of trying to get and stay fit - balancing it all IS living in Lilliput.

You see, before children come into the picture, single life, or even married life, is so…uncomplicated. And monotone – by which I mean that everything is of the same purpose - colored and sized and planned for adults.  It's not that it doesn't have difficulties - it's just that everything happens on one plane of existence - one level of experience.  Then

a baby comes.  I thought that I knew what to expect.  Add a cute little baby to MY life.  Like an adorable accessory.  I'd have to adjust my schedule, sure - but I didn’t expect someone that small would completely transform what MY life was.  Let’s start out just with stuff.  Regular size furniture is replaced or pushed aside for tiny chairs, tiny toys, tiny clothes that are EVERYWHERE! It is no wonder that Lilliput is the first thing that came to my mind, since whether you have one or five or ten kids, you do feel like a giant stomping around among miniaturized cups and spoons and beds…

And these tiny people are part of you, and you are part of them – until you’re not sure where they end and you begin.  And they teach you more about yourself.  For them you discover your creativity, or your imagination, or your love of nature, or whatever is inside you that you were too adult to realize even though you didn't and still don't feel like a "grown up" yourself and wonder when you will.  Through them you remember your soul.  But ironically, by remembering, you also begin to realize there is a part of you that doesn’t belong to them.  You don't become a child again - you're still an adult and now you have both of these worlds within you. There must be time for non-mommy development as well as the childcare portion of life.  I do NOT call it “me time.”  Because there is nothing selfish about it.  The description I prefer is the Covey concept of Sharpening the Saw.  Doing things for our mental, physical, emotional and social health that keep us strong, capable role models for our children. 

And then, there’s realizing that these little people will grow up.  And they will become independent.  And if, no matter how wonderful they are and how much we love every finger, eyelash and dimple, we don’t cultivate talents and joys that don’t necessarily involve them, when they have moved on, we will not be able to.  We will be lost. And bored.

So it’s about balance.  And in the interest of balance, I am officially re-launching my blog to expand my scope.  I have, in the past, focused almost exclusively on crafting and sewing that I’ve done for and with my kids.  I love this part of being a parent.  (Note: I don’t love all parts – please give advice on teenage boys!) I will now begin to speak my mind a bit in posts.  There will still be tutorials and craft projects galore (well, as many as I have been doing – can’t exactly call that GALORE), but I’m going to start including movie reviews when I am fortunate enough to see the screening, book reviews perhaps, some fitness stuff, anything random that I find interesting – basically some of the stuff

I do when I’m not being officially MOM. 

I hope you enjoy the expanded topics and ramblings.  I plan on having a lot of fun!  And I’d love you to share your thoughts and experiences as well.  Feel free to contribute comments or posts!  This isn’t an easy journey in this uncharted land of little people – not just taking care of them, but figuring out who we are at the same time.  Let’s share notes and help each other along the way.

And please be patient with me if the blog looks different from time to time - technology is hard - and I'm determined to end up with the best, most responsive blog possible for someone as non-techie as me :)