why can't life be like downton abbey?

{note: i just confessed in a previous post that this place was going to be stronger and more real! don't hate me!}

why can't life be like downton abbey with its glamorous estate set upon acres and miles away from town? with its castle like structure that boasts pride and class and influence?

why can't life be like downton abbey where writing correspondence and attending a hospital benefit are the to-do's for the day?

where you lounge with drinks in the library before sitting down to a feast in the dining room and afterwards go to the sitting room for more drinks.

where a nanny brings your kids to you when you want to see them and where the chaffauer drives you to the station and into town.

oh to have someone brush your hair for you at night and turn down your covers and dress you for dinner!

and oh the dresses for dinner! pure silk and lace and perfectly fit!

to communicate through hand-written letters or make a necessary trip to see someone because life works best when we make time for one another.

to be in an era where lightbulbs are the new thing and so is the telephone and radio.

where a hairdryer baffles the butler, but excites the servant girls.

where you stop for the afternoon to enjoy tea in a porcelain cup and sit down for conversation.

not a to-go cup with conversation being texted while you have a half-heard conversation in person.

where floral centerpieces are the norm at the dinner table, not the exception.

and to have this particular Granny around! oh Granny!

where various social classes mingle and hold each other up and rescue one another from fires and help pay for lawyer fees and doctor bills.

and the hats and accessories. the string necklaces and silk gloves, the hairstyles and attitude that comes with wearing such classy pieces.

why can't life be like downton abbey?

downton or present day, we cannot predict the future.

and the future looks quite different from the past.

my kids even know how i'd love to life the downton abbey life whether i was a servant downstairs or a lady upstairs.

and the past looks quite different from the present.

so instead of wanting what i think i've missed out on

or wanting what i think i must have, i choose to

celebrate the present.

celebrate the differences.

celebrate the changes that will come.

Lady Grantham said, "Makes me smile."

"We're going forward into the future, not back into the past." Lady Crawley said.

"If only we had the choice!" laughed Lady Grantham.

out of curiosity,

do you crave a season of life that was easier or simpler or kid-free or stress-free or financially better?

is there a part of us that can't move forward because we're afraid of what might be?

Carson was what i don't want to be...stuck in my ways. where i roll my eyes and throw up my hands because the future is gonna happen and not like i had hoped.

rather, i want to throw my hands up and say to the future, i'm a part of it and sending children in that direction and i want to cheer loudly for those who are shaping it and use my words to encourage rather than tear down.

life isn't like downton abbey.

it's far better.

for it's the past that fed the present

and it will be the present that feeds the future.

and i want you and me to lean in and step in and see ourselves as shapers.

be it a kind word.

a hand-written letter.

a trip to see someone.

learning from granny.

celebrating with all social classes.

sitting down for conversation.

making time for tea or coffee or a meal.

coming to their bedside when sick.

spurring someone on to pursue their dream.

it's what those of our past gave us.

and we should always be paying it forward.

what's something of the past that you enjoy in the present?

for me...it's me and the kids taking home mounds of library books despite the fact that kindle and video games dominate our present reality. library books still have that smell even though the check out card is missing from the back insert. i'm over it...i think!