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June 21, 2010 get in gear newsletter
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a note from Cairene
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classesproject front burner: from back burner to done
bite the candy
private sessions |
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overwhelmed? maybe you're out of syncToday is Solstice - a day in the northern hemisphere that marks the beginning of summer. The word comes from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). Usually, I'm happy to stand still during summer. To slow down enough to savor this season of warmth, bounty and play. To put my busyness on hold while nature busts out all around me. But today, at least at the turn of Solstice, I am wanting to be a part of that fertile productivity. I'll probably change my mind in the heat of August, but right now I am wanting to be fruitful. Maybe it's because of all the post-surgical resting I had to do during the spring. Spring is not a restful time. Spring is about waking, sap flowing, budding, blooming, sprouting. Not napping between Perry Mason reruns. I find myself entering summer already feeling out of sync. Feeling behind. On the one hand, I recognize this as a construct. I had this notion in my head about what I was going to do when - you know, a plan - and that notion was interrupted. It had to be temporarily but quite necessarily set aside. Feeling in sync again is simply a matter of drafting a new plan. Any difficulty in doing that is just my attachment to that original notion. that one big thingOn the other hand, I do think there is a certain rightness to the timing of things. And, deep down, I think we know it. That vague sense of anxiety in one's gut might be a sign that things are moving a little too fast. That quiet dissatisfaction at the back of one's mind might be a sign that things are developing a little too slowly. I think a great deal of our well-being comes from feeling in sync with the passage of time - our sense that what's happening in our lives is in that sweet spot between too much and too little, too fast and too slow. And, more importantly, that the right things are happening at the right time. It's often those right things going undone - regardless of what else is happening - that result in overwhelm and disappointment, our sense that things are not as they should be. Mona Grayson recently defined overwhelm as a sign of serious neglect: "It’s not that you have too much to do. It’s that there’s one Big Thing you haven’t been doing." And I'm coming to think she's right. choosing and changingMost of the time, I long to slow down. Most of the time, I have to remind the Worried Hamster in my head that we don't need to rush and push quite so much. And, although I feel behind, I still have no wish to step on his Hamster Wheel to Nowhere. Right now, what I most desire is to be bearing fruit along with everything around me. Not because of some plan or should or supposed-to. But because it's the right time to do certain right things. And doing them is what is necessary for me to feel in sync. (In a way, it's an act of self-care.) Realization of this desire has some implications. Like a plant, I have to put most of my energy and resources toward development of those fruits and very few toward leaves, roots and branches. Especially suckers. Which means being honest with myself about what I want. It means choosing. It is both thrilling and frightening to say: this and only this. But the harvest is going to be sweet. ask yourselfWhat do you need to do to feel in sync with the season and the passage of time in your life? What fruits do you most want to put your energy and resources toward right now? What choices would you have to make to ripen those fruits? • • • • • Inspired to take action on your Big Thing, but wanting some guidance and support in doing so?
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recently on the blogBehind the Tweets | the story of doing a hard thing in three parts |
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let's chatLike what you've read? Have a suggestion? Got a question? Let's start a conversation. I'd love to hear from you - send me a line, comment on the blog, or follow me on Twitter. |
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subscription infoI encourage you to share this newsletter with people you think may enjoy it. When doing so, please forward it in its entirety, including my contact and copyright information. Thanks! If you received this issue of Get In Gear from a reader and would like your own subscription, please click here. To update your email address or unsubscribe, please click the link at the bottom of the newsletter. An archive of past issues of the Get In Gear newsletter can be browsed here. Unless otherwise attributed, all material is written and edited by Cairene MacDonald. Cairene MacDonald from overwhelmed to ready for anything Third Hand Works | administrative guidance for independent creative professionals |
