Side Effects of Surrendering to Big 'D' Desires

I recently wrote a little series on the big ‘D’ Desires that I believe God plants in our souls and that show up at the most interesting times to bloom and blossom in the most interesting ways.

(Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 – now you can see ALL the pretty.)

They rarely make sense and they are rarely convenient. But, when we feel them, they are always accompanied by a deep soul recognition and yearning to have them be part of our life.

One of the reasons that I keep my buffer (my neurological load) so un-full and un-busy is so that when a new divine nudge shows up, I have the ability and capacity to respond.

And that’s what happened with this whole decor thing.

(it doesn’t have a cool name yet, let’s see what we can come up with)

Because, it turns out that the decor part of the decor thing is just one tiny part of the change that is happening in me and around me as God makes something new happen.

Here are a few of the salubrious side effects I’ve noticed so far as I pursue pretty decor:

Photography

It quickly became apparent to me that if I was going to win at this whole Instagram decor thing, I was going to have to up my photography game.

I mean, there are only so many grainy, shaky, blurry, VERY BLUE photos you can take before you start to question why you’re even behind a lens in the first place, am I right?

So, I started researching… just a little bit. Just a tender toe-in to the new and deep waters of interior photography and photo editing – and, Lord help me! – photo apps on my phone. Yikes!

But, here’s the thing: it wasn’t really a new thing for me. When I was young, I loved photography. I took photography in high school. I took classes after university. I’ve read books and biographies and studied how to frame a good shot and I have many memories of standing in a dark room and inhaling toxic fumes while my photos developed.

Of course, we don’t do the darkroom part any more but the point is that I was there. This was a passion of mine before I got totally focused on the making money game over 20 years ago.

Over the past few months I’ve been re-awakening that old love. It is truly a gift from God. And it isn’t the only one because it turns out that the DIY decor I want to play with also includes a whole tonne of …

Sewing and Quilting

Yup. It’s true. I was a total nerd. When I was a teenager and ought to have been out drinking and smoking and kissing all the wrong boys, instead I was down in my basement watching action movies (Schwarzenegger, anyone?) and, um, quilting.

Yeah. It’s hard to admit.

I sewed my own grad dress. I created clothes. I worked in a fabric store and spent almost my whole salary on the fabrics and patterns they had there. 

It was bad.

But I LOVED it. Like truly, deeply, madly. I loved working with patterns and choosing fabrics and cutting and piecing and seeing all the assorted pieces come together into something beautiful.

And then I stopped. After I graduated from University, I stopped creating and stopped, well, everything except the drive to make money.

Just like the photography, this passion has been re-awakened in me and given an avenue as I start to change my house into a home. Part of the triumvirate of old passions awakened, if you will. And that third part?

Woodworking

Also something I loved when I was a teenager. Also something I took in school. Also something I did with my hands where I could create pretty things that brought me joy.

Also something that I dropped for over 20 years.

And now I’ve started again because the big, yummy man bought me a scroll saw for Christmas.

Those are the big skillsets that God is awakening in me that I loved when I was young, but that’s not all…

(I’m telling you, it’s the gift that just keeps giving)

… in the next post I’ll share some of the deeper, more subtle side effects that I’m discovering as I surrender to my big ‘D’ desires.

What old passions do you have that God has awakened as a salubrious side effect?