I am in a quandary about what to do. On one hand I love getting every issue of BHG in the mail. Magazines in the mailbox have the power to make my day great (I think it is something about the shine of the pages). I love paging through it and looking at the beautiful homes and decorating ideas. I love reading about recipes and I love looking at green yards. The problem is that I don't stop with just looking. There is this seductive path my brain takes at some point with almost every issue. I start off thinking "Oh, what a fun idea". This thought is immediately followed by "I could do that; it would be great in the ____ room". I earmark the page and then this idea starts to simmer on the back shelf in my mind. At first I am planning how such and such idea could fit into what we have, and what I like, and what would work for us, but then things become more sinister. A piece of my brain starts to ask myself why I haven't already finished this project and remind myself of what a mess our house is and how this project would fix that and make me happy. It keeps pointing to the dishes in the sink and telling me that painting the walls in the family room would make me into the sort of person who doesn't have dirty dishes in the sink- ever. And then this rogue part of my brain starts to call me names like "lazy", "unorganized", "unstylish", "slovenly", "boring", etc etc.
So I'm trying to decide whether it is worth it. I love projects- when I can get them done. I love ideas- when I deal with them in a healthy, reasonable way. I love shiny pages and beautiful pictures. I somehow, though, need to remind myself that no one's house actually looks like the pictures unless BHG is coming over to do a photo-shoot. Everyone has a junk drawer and dust bunnies and dirty laundry. I am not a failure as a human being when my house isn't ready for a photo-shoot at all times. The question is whether I can remember all of that next month when the shiny pages arrive in the mail enticing me with their call that "Heavenly Emu" colored paint on my walls will fix all of life's difficulties.
Oh, you are talking my language. I got a 3yr subscription for the price of 1 and my time should be running out this summer. While I love BHG, so much of it is impractical, unaffordable, and sometimes just plain silly. I'm very much a function over form person, but I too am drawn to the shiny pictures and they make me doubt my ways. I'm actually thinking of switching to Organic Gardening, since it is the gardening stuff I really like anyhow. That mag is only 6 issues a year, so I'm not sure what I'd do on the slow months...
ReplyDeleteHi Krista! I am a total magazine junkie. Right now, I get Parents, Parenting, Real Simple, ShopSmart, and I am thinking of starting to get Self. I love my magazines because they motivate me in the different areas where I sometimes feel sluggish (i.e. childcare, home, money, and health). I am a perfectionist though and frequently have difficulty getting back to the real world. I honestly think even if I had "that" room, it wouldn't look as good, because so much of it is about photography. But it gets me up off my booty, which is something I am happy to pay for!
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