We expect things. We expect June to be warm and February to be cold. But sometimes February is mild and you need to light a fire in the wood stove in June.
Sometimes when I am looking forward to something I remind myself to tamper my expectations. When they are too high I am sometimes disappointed. Keep it real, I think. Just take it as it comes.
Keeping big expectations at bay is a way of being happy I suppose. Not wanting too much or thinking that it is going to be the best yet means that it is easier to appreciate what comes. I enjoy looking forward to things all the same, looking forward but not burdening myself with the idea that things need to be great.
I suppose this is a mark of simplicity. Letting the day unfold as it does. Being ready, but not too ready.
I have a little party planned for tomorrow night. It is dinner with friends in the yard. I have been seeing it in my head. And sometimes I see it as that dinner at the table in France...you know the one always on the tv? And then I remind myself to keep it simple. To haul out the table and chairs, make a nice dessert and hope for the sun to shine. It will be what it will be.
My mother was always singing Que sera sera. And now I sing it too.
Over planning. Over cooking. That is not my gig anymore.
I just like to go in happy and well prepared and then adjust as needed. Years ago if I was having a group for coffee, I would make three kinds of muffins and cinnamon buns. Now It's just one thing, and maybe some fruit. It's not that I care any less. It's that I don't want to feel stressed getting ready and then have to deal with left overs when it was all really about the getting together anyway.
Well prepared and over prepared are very different things. When you are well prepared you have thought things through and covered all the bases. Over prepared means you have done too much, and often created stress for yourself at the same time.
So tomorrow night I will come up with a rhubarb dessert. I have some pretty napkins. I'll put on the lights in the yard even if the sun is still shining and I will be present. I won't be flustered.
Getting together is about being together. It is not about how much work we put into making it happen. I'll pick some flowers from the yard once the table is outdoors. When the guests come I might give them a little job. Maybe they'll be carrying the table out. It's a possibility if I am late getting home. And you know, they won't care.
I will make it pretty and sweet and simple. The food will be good. Everyone is bringing something so that's easy. Usually I like to do the cooking but this little gathering was planned together so we are all chipping in. Potluck.
Simple plans for good times. No notions of perfection. Just hoping for the good.
