AisA Academy

CPL, Part 2 March 3, 2009

(for CPL Part I see here.)

My Central Purpose in Life is to create and maintain a loving, nurturing environment in which to raise my children and assist them in preparing to live independent and happy lives.

To get a better handle on what such a purpose would involve, I needed to think about just what would constitute a loving, nurturing environment and  what I need to do in order to accomplish it.   I was able to identify three major categories.

I would like our home to be:

1) Supportive and nurturing of individuals and relationships
2) Aesthetically pleasing
3) Efficient in the  operation of its “infrastructure”

#1 immediately stuck me as the most important and the hardest to define and implement–so I will save discussing it for last. Today, I will quickly and briefly expand on the other two.

2) Aesthetically pleasing

a) tidy, comfortable, clean
b) furniture that is functional, comfortable, visually attractive
c) Other decor: simple, well-maintained, adds something positive (i.e. not just clutter)
d) Art: adds beauty, has personal meaning
e) Yard: low maintenance but a source of visual pleasure

This outline gives me a set of criteria with which I can evaluate the physical aspect of our home.  Contemplating  this list reminds me I have several places in need of attention and improvement.  It provides me with a simple check list against which I can evaluate the current state of our home, and a specific image to guide any changes.

3) Efficient operation of the “infrastructure”

(By infrastructure I mean the organization and implementation of activities which are necessary to support our lives, but which only indirectly are key to the achievement of our higher values.)

a) Create an order that serves a purpose, in the tasks as well as the materials of daily living (meals, cleaning, personal care)
b) Maintenance of labor-saving devices
c) Minimizing time spent on chores in order to free up time for more meaningful activities
d) Facilitate communication and co-ordination of activities – again in order to maximize the achievement everyone’s individual values within the context of shared resources, including time.
e) Appropriate division of responsibilities for the care of shared resources

In addition to the physical atmosphere of the home, part of my work entails attending to the structure and coordination of our ADLs (Activities of Daily Living.) Efficient and orderly operation and maintenance of our home and our personal health provides a foundation which frees us to achieve what is more important or simply more fun.  Much of the structure which currently exists has evolved through trial and error—but by explicitly defining what the various tasks and structures are helps to focus my attention on what is going well, and what could use some fine-tuning.

So that briefly summarizes the physical and organizational parts of the home environment. Next is the biggie: the aspects of the environment which more directly support and nurture individual family members, with special attention to the needs of dependent children in their growth toward maturity.

Any thoughts on something I have missed?  I’d love to get some feedback as I see this as a work-in-progress.