A Quiet Simple Life | Sallie Borrink

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

A Quiet Simple Life

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Crawling Into My Introvert Summer Cave


I told David and Caroline I am crawling into my introvert cave now for the summer. I intend to hide out here, interacting with people in the in-person world only when absolutely necessary.

All I want to do is read, deep clean my house, cook good food, sleep, walk for exercise, and work on this website. That’s it. I don’t want to go anywhere. I don’t want to get involved with anything. All I want to do is quietly do my things in the peaceful haven that is my home.

This evening I finally took care of the issue I mentioned in The Cozy Life Reset Day 7 – Acknowledge Your Limits. It was difficult to do, but I know it was the right decision. I’ll write more about it someday.

The past year and a half has been a good reminder of how I simply don’t function like other people. This little bit I saw in an INFJ Reddit discussion yesterday was so timely.

I mean I already knew that as is evidenced by the massive amount of content testifying to that here on this website. I hadn’t forgotten it, but I tested the limits of it. In the process, I discovered that those limits still matter, In fact, they might matter even more now at this point in my life.

So I am gratefully crawling into my cave this summer.

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Northern Lights at Our Home


We went outside this evening to see the Northern Lights. Caroline was able to take many lovely photos of what we saw here in West Michigan.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Psalm 19:1

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In Search of a Normal Week


Genuine question and I’d love to hear the experiences of others in the comments.

I consider a normal week to be one that unfolds mostly the way you expect it to when you go to bed on Sunday night. You know what’s on the calendar, you’ve planned for your responsibilities, and each day basically unfolds that way. There are no significant disruptions whether it is illness, an emergency, new appointments, etc.

How often do you have a week like that? Most weeks? Half of the time? Once in a blue moon?

Over the weekend my face started swelling up next to the right side of my nose and I didn’t feel well. Sunday it was definitely worse. (Because these things ALWAYS happen on the weekend, don’t they?) By Monday the right side of my face was sufficiently swollen that I contacted the doctor’s office and requested an in person visit that day.

Diagnosis? Sinus infection. A bad one. But only in one sinus. And I haven’t been sick (that I’m aware of). So I’m now on antibiotics.

So that messed up Monday homeschooling because I was unwell and had to go to the doctor in the afternoon. It also spilled over into Tuesday. We completed some of our studies, but my stamina is low enough that I didn’t push myself to do all the things.

If I had to make a guess, I would guess only 5-10% of our weeks are normal.

Is that the case for you? Is this what everyone experiences most weeks? Or are we an outlier? Is it normal for most weeks to never go the way you plan?

We purposefully live a life with margin, but it seems like it is never enough lately.

What is your experience?

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Removing the Distracting Possibilities Around Me


One of the things I’ve been working on is removing the distracting possibilities from my life. That’s what I’m calling all the things that call out to me with their potential.

There are only so many hours in the day, days in the week, and weeks in the year. There are only so many years in a life. I could live five lifetimes and never do or learn all the things that interest me. I could never read all the books, do all the projects, become proficient in all the instruments, learn all the languages, or develop all the skills.

Even though I’m interested in so many of those possibilities, I’m more committed to prioritizing and enjoying my cozy life. It’s difficult to rest and enjoy your life if you’re constantly distracted or tempted by other things around you.

So I’ve been slowly and methodically removing the distracting possibilities over the past several months. It’s been a slow process as I’ve had to fit it in around the responsibilities of life. Some of these things I probably could have gotten rid of many years ago, but they were still potentially useful if I decided to move in a particular direction. I’ve now reached the point in life where those possibilities have dropped off my list of likely to be acted upon. It’s been time to let them go. It’s included everything from physical items to papers in manila folders and three-ring binders to digital files to mental to-do-someday lists.

The distractions come in a variety of formats, not just in the physical realm.

But every time I let something go that I know I will never get to, it further frees me up for the things I truly do want to be a part of my life.

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