I’ve lived for a couple months without a few activities and everything is going well all around. I volunteered in 8 groups back in October, and cut out half by the end of November.

I have two thoughts on cutting my volunteer work in half. First, I can contact my networks from any group whether I’m still volunteering or not and second, I’m still meeting new people in the groups I stayed with. So my people quotient is being met with less groups. I have availability to spend more time and have a deeper relationship with members of all the groups in which I’m still involved. With more quantity and higher quality time post-cut, and I’m still finding myself with time to spare at the end of the day. My weekends are glorious. I still keep the following in mind in my activities:

1. tangible and positive impact on my immediate world
2. impact to last for the next seven generations
3. potential for personal growth
4. at least three of the circles in the graphic below
5. little to no energy vampires
6. organizational support/structure
7. fun/enjoyment

I wear many hats — one for beekeeping, one for parenting, and many for land use (which I view as the same as social justice). I got rid of a few hats, which meets my goal in “The cut.” However, one hat in particular got bigger, and I like it. (I was also asked to consider two new hats [aka jobs] in the past month. I declined.)

I asked my mom what she thought about me dropping some activities and expanding others. I thought she was going to say something practical like, “Will you make money?” but instead, she asked, “Would you enjoy it?”

Wow! Am I having fun? How could I have neglected fun? Of course fun needs to be included in my criteria! So now my list looks like:

1. tangible impact on my immediate world
2. impact to last for the next seven generations
3. potential for personal growth 
4. at least three of the circles in the graphic from last month
5. little to no energy vampires
6. organizational support/structure
7. fun/enjoyment