I always look forward to the holidays. Not just because it’s festive, cheery and filled with magic, the holidays give me a time to renew myself. Our offices close for a week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. I get to spend time with the boys, clean up the house, put away the holiday decorations, and reenergize for a new year.
Having some time away from colleagues and the office always brings to light the blessings of work. No matter what the politics or the present situation, enjoying time away from everything clears perspectives. I get an opportunity to distance myself from the bickering, the pettiness, the political correctness that is inevitable in the work environment.
Coming back after the New Year, everyone seems geared up for new challenges. Everyone shares their holiday stories, adventures, and New Year resolutions. As you know, Grace, I don’t make a New Year’s resolution. So what’s my New Year’s theme going to be for the year? As I ring in the New Year with Merlot, the theme might just surface as I toast to a new me, a new year, a new journey. We’ll see.
Guiding Lesson: Eve, how right you are about the positive effect that creating space from the constant demands of the everyday has on helping you to see more clearly. It sounds wonderful to unplug and focus on you and the people you love by embracing a slower rhythm. You wonder what it would be like if you had some set times that you are able to detach each quarter so you can reconnect and come back to yourself. Wouldn’t it be amazing!
In today’s busy landscape, unplugging is challenging. It is also not seen as being responsible if you do it when it is not expected of you. The myth is that people think it is going against being productive and moving forward. My question is where is everyone going? It reminds me of the freeways in California or Atlanta or New York City. Everyone is trying to get somewhere quickly, but the reality is that no one is actually moving to the degree that is actually getting them anywhere. Another image is that people are like a slinky toy. They want to spring forward but the real journey is springing back to the origin of who you are.
So how do you define productive? Would you consider spending time playing with you children productive? Does everything that is deemed productive need to be attached to a monetary return on investment or acquiring possessions or even reaching for a certain title? What if being productive means waking up each morning and being grateful for another breath, another shower, another day, another adventure to find the Divine in the day? Would you need to create a “To Do” list so you feel you accomplished this? Okay, I woke up, check. I took another breath, check. I enjoyed the water that cleansed my body, check. I gave thanks to God who allowed me to have these experiences, check. I know this may sound silly, but is it, really?
Eve, I admire you arriving to yourself and stepping back to enjoy the moment to come back home. How refreshing and renewing this will be for you and your children. So what is your 2011 theme? You will discover this once you arrive and settle into yourself. Then we can talk and sort it our.
Grace
MissGuidedMom 