Do you pick a theme for your year? I do. My theme this year was ‘Less’ and it’s been so fascinating to me how it’s played out…
At first it was just about recognizing that the gift of lockdown was, for me, doing less. I love not being busy! I love gardening and reading and noodling around with my kids with no clear agenda… having the freedom to surprise bake or go for a walk or play.
As the year has gone on, though, it’s turned into other flavours of less – less pressure on myself to do things perfectly (especially when I’ve never done them before!), less desire to do things I ‘should’ be doing (even when they’re supposed to be fun).
And now, the most surprising version of less: less regulated self-care. Before we went on our Big Adventure trip, I was trying to do all the things. Meditate before bed, yoga stretches to stretch out my spine, 4-4-6 breathing… the list was long. And you know where this is going, don’t you? More to do does not equal more equanimity, at least not for me.
So now? I’m doing less. My favourite thing is reading till I fall asleep – till the page goes blurry and my hand goes limp. I love it so much. So I’m doing that every night instead of meditating. I’m breathing deep when I catch myself shallow breathing. I’m moving my body every day – gardening or walking or a little yoga. But I’ve loosened the ‘must do’ attitude. I’ve embraced less.
I’m sharing this just in case you might also be unintentionally putting pressure on yourself to self-care more, even if it doesn’t feel good. Even if it feels like homework. That’s the joy of being a grown-up, isn’t it? We get to choose our homework!
Here’s to a day full of peaceful less…
I arrived here after viewing your presentation via F&M recording. Well done!
I’m not sure if you are aware of homeopathy. It can be a great help with many aspects of grief.
Thanks so much for your kind words, Bob! I know of homeopathy but not in relation to grief – I’ll look it up, thank you…