Tuesday, 3/30/10 - I Iron

I iron.

This is not a tale of housework.

It is about my book.

I have mentioned that
I will be writing a
book, haven't I?

The book will be about
- enough -

That's all,
just enough.

It will be about
living with yourself
and being comfortable with
who you are and what you value.

It will be about
working hard
to drop out
in a balanced
and productive way.

The thought for the book
has always been with me.

As far back as I can remember
I have been working toward something -
blissfully balancing saving and spending.

When I went alone to buy my first house
I knew what I could afford before
I went to the bank for pre-approval.

When the bank called to tell
me that I had been approved
for twice the amount I had
requested, I must have sounded
dumbfounded because the woman
from the bank asked,
"If that isn't enough, we could
probably get you more. How much
more would you like?"

I explained to her that I had
done the math and that someone
on my salary could afford no
more that what I had originally requested.

I took only what I knew I could afford and
found a home that I liked within that price range.

The problem was that the home
had a pool and I had not calculated
what it would cost to maintain a pool.

I did some quick calculations and
decided that if I did my own laundry
I could use that money to maintain the pool.

(You wondered how I was going to get back to ironing, didn't you?)

I made a choice as to what I valued more
and that relative value has remained -
I still do my own laundry and ironing -
and I still choose to use those resources
for things I value more.

I believe that I can help people
sort through their wishes, wants and desires
and focus on what is essential to them.

Since this blog is really about photography
I will use a photographic analogy:
You can perceive a perfect picture
but to capture it you must balance
aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

There are many sets of values
that will produce the same exposure.

Choose the ones that work best for you.

I probably won't suggest that you do your own ironing
unless, of course, you want to.