As I make my slow pilgrimage through the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery seems to gather and grow. A.C. Benson
Up until today my goals have been to apply the following principles to my choreography (and therefore my life):
- Move with attention
- Turn on my learning switch
- Find and use subtlety
- Enjoy abundant variations
And as of today I will add slow to the list. Of any of the principles I will address, slow is the most difficult. It is something I can identify in others so easily, but usually overlook my own inability to foster a sustainable pace.
It is exhausting being a do-er instead of a be-er. My task lists are exhausting to create and impossible to accomplish. In my work with Karen, we have discussed at length the all or nothing mentality.
One of the house chores I love, because to do it well you must slow down, is clothes folding. When rushing the process as a result, clothes are bulkier and less uniform, creating a constantly changing storage needs. And when I fold clothes slowly, it keeps me mindful, that slow is really more efficient. It is important to remind myself now, before I get into full-time work mode.
It always annoys (and sometimes makes me laugh) how stressed people look:
- rushing in their cars to the red light as I bike moderately, and usually cruise past them
- standing impatiently in a check-out line, shifting weight and clenching their muscles
- darting to work/school, stiff and emotionless; holding the weight of the world on their shoulders and back
Stress will begin for me again, as my schedule tightens around me like a noose. This year I am determined to live, not just "do" and to carve out time each day for the work that feeds me.
And for a 10 minute chunk of slow time to just be.
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