Rest | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

1. Truth: Vacation gives you an important break from your regular life. Especially if you go somewhere, anywhere. You don’t have to mow the lawn or go to work. You can ignore your email and the phone. You can get up when you want, take a nap when you want, eat when and what you want. Spend all day in your pajamas reading a book, or go for the longest walk, find someplace beautiful and quiet and stay there. You can relax and slow down, rest or play.

2. Truth: Taking a break will give you new perspective on your regular life. If you take a long enough break, everything will feel new and strange upon return. Has the trash always been on the left side? How long has it been since I really saw that picture? You might find yourself wandering the aisle of your favorite grocery store in amazement. You realize how fast your internet truly is, how comfortable your bed, how lucky you are to be able to recycle and compost. You remember what’s important, and know for sure that if that specific chore doesn’t get finished today, no one is going to die, and that you can get by and be happy with so much less.

3. Truth: In the first moments, those initial days after your return, there is a magic opportunity for transformation. You have remembered that you can be or do anything you want, remembered who you truly are without all the trying and obligation, and that you are already fundamentally f r e e. Your regular life will stretch out before you like the gift it is, and you’ll barely be able to contain your joy because you know that anything is possible.

One Wish: That you give yourself this gift of vacation, retreat, reflection and rest, even if you can only manage it for a single day. That through this you remember that you are basically good, fundamentally wise and kind, and that you have the power to change things.

I’m in this strange space, this odd state today. It feels a bit like being hungover or jet lagged. I think it’s actually World Domination Summit love lag, a possibility hangover accompanied by waves of wonder and magic aftershocks that has brought about a sabbath, a day of rest that fell midweek.

I’m exhausted, existing in a whole other time zone, another reality. All I could manage today was walking the dogs, a shower, eating, and a long nap. This kind of day used to send me into fits. I’d power past the tired and overwhelm, keep working anyway, to the point of collapse or illness, chanting “have to, should, must, already wasted too much time.” I’d drag myself, push and pull and bully and smash myself to bits to get from this moment to the next, not stopping until I’d reached the goal, which I never did because I was always adding more things, having more ideas, creating more tasks for myself.

which way is up?

Be here now.
Be someplace else later.
Is that so complicated?
~Josh Pais (by way of Danielle LaPorte)

This goal thinking, this endless to-do list, this rush toward the real thing, the important moment, the big accomplishment, the grasping and reaching is exactly the thing that wastes time. It denies this moment, the one I’m in now. Denies my need for rest, to go more slowly, to ruminate and contemplate, to enjoy the ride. It says “hurry up” when I want to lollygag, fool around, dawdle. It rushes to get somewhere else when I long to be here, now.

So for today, I’m allowing myself to take it easy, to go slow, to accept that even if it means I miss out on something, it’s okay. Because what I definitely won’t miss is this moment. It’s all there is, and that’s such a gift, because in this moment there is the sound of the ocean and bird song, sun and a light breeze, two soft and sleepy dogs resting at my feet, my boy on his way to the store to buy vanilla ice cream to go with the peach cobbler he made while I napped, the tap of my finger on the keys and words to string together, and you, dear reader, to tell all this to. There is love and there is time, and that’s more than enough.