Unfinished projects

I find myself noticing the many projects around the house and yard that I have begun and not yet finished. In thinking about each, I notice that there are a variety of reasons…not just the one I often attribute to them: “I just get distracted.”

Yard cleanup. The backyard cleanup that I have been working on this week will be unfinished today due to the breeze. So, although the raking will be done, I will not be able to burn the remaining pile until the breeze goes away. It would not be safe.

Coat Rack. The wall coat rack that I had planned to install in the utility room is still waiting. I got as far as getting the tools I would need and penciling on the wall where it would go, yet I have not finished it. My reason? It involves using an electric drill, which is an unfamiliar tool to me. Yet I have resisted offers of others to do it. I suspect because, when I do get up the nerve, I will be proud of myself for overcoming a fear. What fear? A fear of the tool, a fear of messing up the wall, a fear ultimately of failure. So, it sits…waiting.

Yard work. Finishing the hedges (of which the ones I did do now need re-doing along with the one I did not finish), re-edging the driveway and getting around to doing the patio, and weedwhacking the perimeter of the house and yard. All of these require getting out that LONG extension cord and handling an electric tool. The electric tool, in each case, is not so much the issue as I have successfully used it and feel a bit of competence in the use. Rather, by combining them all to the use of that extension cord, I have made each into a much bigger project, which is more overwhelming for me. I really need just to take one thing at a time – even if it takes several days to complete it all.

Printed recipes – mostly Ed’s. I have stacks of paper representing the many times he printed off a recipe. Last year I started going through them and weeding out those I will never cook and finding some he used often that I liked. But, there are many duplicates and recipes that he adapted to my Judaic needs that I will never use…and it got overwhelming. So…I piled them in the computer room. I have wondered about trashing all of them, but I just can’t.

CDs. We collected hundreds of CDs. Last year I started going through them in order to decide what I wanted to keep. I never finished and now have stacks of CDs waiting for review. This year, I wonder why I am keeping any? It’s not as if I listen to them much. Yet, it feels like a project I need to continue. Maybe I need to look at how I get music into my life – records (we have them, too), CDs, radio, TV music stations – before I can decide what to do.

Sales. Some of the items that I want to move on, out of my home, I had decided to sell. Yet, I didn’t have enough stuff for a yard sale, so I decided to use online yard sale sites on FB. Well, some items have yet to be listed; partly because I do not take the time to write a description and partly because of what? It seems a simple thing. Describe, price, post. But, I haven’t yet put up Ed’s computer. Nor have I had success with four of my suits, my boots, or the videos I posted. I need to decide how to move these items profitably from my home. In the meantime, they are cluttering up my dining room.

Letters. I started a letter to my mother last week…and it is still waiting for me to finish it and get it in the mail. Although distraction is a part of why I have not finished it, I think it is more that I have not yet figured out how to relate to her without the phone. I was never the best letter writer, and often sent Mom & Dad letters I started one day and finished another, but this one feels harder or maybe I am just out of practice.

There are all kinds of unfinished projects in life. Most of the ones that bug me are the ones that have a reason for the-not-finishing as well as a reason to-be-finished (at least, for me). I suspect that there is some growth involved with each, something to overcome or realize. Some will finish sooner than others. It is also possible that some unfinished projects never finish, I suppose, although the ones listed here will eventually find an end.

Oh, well…growth is a journey that seems to be part of my life. And, I do not always get a choice in which areas need attention now…sometimes it is a past project.