Ever since we’ve been released and life is somewhat normal – our lives have suddenly become busy. To the point that we have to go for walkies with dog walkers.
Building works, things to do and places to go … whoa!!! What happened, Mum?
Remember the book that you found when we were at The Gallivant –
May’s comment: Once upon a time when I was steeped into the corporate world of meetings, travels and projects, projects and more projects with deadlines … I was constantly on the run, I have lists upon lists and couldn’t even imagine having a dog that would interfere with my fast-paced life. I did feel important and it gave me a sense of purpose but if the pay check was removed, the titles disappeared and which office you sat in came crumbling down, and when flying Business Class wasn’t a given, what really mattered? I never had a quiet moment – the mind was constantly thinking, worrying and the will to always do better. In the end I realised that didn’t mean much to anyone else.
It’s in me to always be busy. So even with Darcy, I created a busy life. We travelled, we attended events and I had self-imposed blog deadlines. When lockdown happened, we all had to stop. I was grateful for someone to tell me to stop! I still kept busy though – within the four walls of our home. But that busy-ness was all about things I never had the time to do. I took the time to organise my life, to catch up with friends, to just be still. I cherish those times.
But life has become busy again – and it was Ashley’s blog that was a reminder – to take time not to be busy.
Guest blog by Ashley Brown:
“You do not need to be busy all the time, part of creating is to observe with a still mind”
Did anyone notice when being busy became so glamorous? The runway of modern life has us all walking the catwalk, right? I see the trend play out, daily. Take this morning’s coffee run. Girl in front of me places order for three lattes, frantically tapping on her phone. Solo, sweaty barista whips them up, eyeing the que, now out the door. “Can I change those to cappuccinos?” girl squeals at him as he puts on the last lid. By now girl is waving her phone in the air like it’s a trophy, “busy morning” she triumphs to the rest of us. I felt bad for the guy, and the wasted lattes.
What is this ‘busy’ state we all flock to, like honey to the bee? We live in a world where food, dates and zoom meetings are available at the touch of a button. We have exchanged libraries for google and letters for instant emails, yet we can’t seem to wait to go faster. So, what are we all ‘I’m busy’ doing? I have done some digging and found it translates mostly to ‘frantic days fuelled by an OTT coffee habit.’ What gives? We do actually, and learning this lesson has been life changing. Like all trends, ‘the busy mind’ is optional, let me explain.
What’s the rush?
I have been that girl in the coffee shop, I think we all have, no? Those days where we forget to call our Mum, order the wrong size, press send too soon on an email and wonder if mercury’s gone retrograde? The chaos is exhausting. As a writer it makes life tricky, if not impossible. Part of creating is to observe with a still mind. A busy mind is like a broken computer, that’s why we tend to fall apart. Burn out? Anxiety? Fatigue? Sound familiar? Our relationship with time is as precious as our finances, partners, family and friends. Just like overdoing it on our wardrobe depletes our bank balance, hyper-ambitious time management depletes our sense of self. That sense of self is the place we create our magic from, so how can we nurture that place without giving up the day job?
The magic
I know the way back to that blissful state where we feel our best selves, in creative flow, dancing with life and smiling at strangers. The place we make our best decisions. We know when to say no, when to jump and when to rest. And it’s a lot easier to get there than we often imagine when our heads are whizzing around like waltzers. Want the two magic words? Slow down. Read a book, turn off your phone and be present. Sit with the noise a little while, it will soon become a whisper. Just like it takes a masseuse time to work his way into your knots, it takes a busy mind time to hunker down and find the magic in the stillness. As you head back into your day, go a little slower and see what happens. A daily dose of mind stilling keeps creating fun, to do lists bare-able and turns work into play. Give it a try, all it takes is a little trust and a little magic!
