It's been a while!
Hope you are all well, safe and healthy as the pandemic still rages on.
We are doing well, honestly blessed and privileged compared to a majority of the world's population and I have no complaints, only gratitude!
Just popped in here to jot down some random musings....been neglecting this space for too long and I figured I'll make it spontaneous so that I can blog more often.
So what's on my mind today:
1) CALM - I love this meditation app. Today I took a short masterclass on the art of stillness by Pico Iyer. I love how he said we must schedule appointments with ourselves and use that time to do nothing, just sit still, without gadgets, distractions, or an agenda. There are many more awesome sessions and classes on here. I was using Mindspace all through quarantine and I got bored of it. I love Mindspace as well, just needed a change for a bit.
2) Social media detox - I need one badly. I haven't had Facebook on my phone for 18+ months now, but I have Instagram and twitter (although I only use twitter sparingly for news). I still feel I spend WAY too much time on my phone scrolling/browsing and this summer, I've taken a resolution to break this habit. I will read more, blog more, play more, create more - and really really cut down on my social media time.
3) Minimalism - been reading and listening to podcasts on this topic, and I want to move out of our home for a couple months and convert our house to a minimalist modern home. Somehow need to find a way to make it happen. I know I have a sabbatical coming up next summer, might really consider doing it then. I don't want to spend several weeks or months renovating our current home and re-furnishing it. Even if we reduce current clutter (which we have been systematically doing over the quarantine), we still a major overhaul with few basic things. Minimalism doesn't mean living without necessities or even luxury. But it really, for me, does mean spending as little time as possible with cleaning, tidying, upkeep and not having to stress about it on an ongoing basis.
4) Sleep - listen to Rich Roll's podcast with Alan Walker on sleep, so fascinating. Been implementing some changes in my sleep routine after that and I must say I feel better.
5) I still struggle with the conflict between what is "doing less" vs "being lazy or unproductive". Sometimes I feel I can use "doing less" as an argument to just not do anything. Waste time. Do nothing. Not plan special things or trips for kids. What is too much, or too little - is it possible to achieve that fine balance of doing just the right amount of things? Why do I feel this way? Because I feel people around me a doing a lot more, and surprisingly being able to manage it easily. Large homes, fancy cars, ambitious high level careers, tons of kids activities, working out, eating healthy, planning vacations, gatherings every weekend, kids exceling in school - they seem to have a good handle on all of it, whereas each of these bullets - I feel I have to struggle and work hard for, and let go of some of it as I can't manage or keep up. I'm not jealous of anyone (thank god), I really feel happy to see someone excel and succeed, but I do wonder why things come easily to others and not to me? Of course, on the other side, there are many who must be thinking about me that way, so I understand there are always 2 sides of a coin, but that doesn't stop me from pondering and feeling a bit anxious/insecure about these things.
I have more musings but I have to leave right now....will come back soon and write more.
If you are reading this, I'd love for you to share your thoughts with me :)!
3 comments:
Yay - great to see you come back to this space.
Do you really need an app to do nothing ? I seem to be doing it all the time with no app :)) You have your perfect justification for this in your own Point 5. "Doing less" seems very philosophical. I think I will wholeheartedly adopt it !!
Minimalism is a concept I have been exploring quite a bit. Its tough to do so with kids ; not impossible but tough. It should involve significant declutter. Anything that is not used at least once a month should be thrown away and never be bought again. Try it out in one room of the house as a start - its actually quite refreshing. Won't help in reducing cleaning, tidying, though. That's as inevitable as death and taxes !
More musings pleeease.
@Ramesh - I love seeing you back here.
The app makes me accountable, that's all. Also there are prompts, and sometimes it helps me work through things with those prompts. I admit I prefer guided meditations, especially at bedtime, my sleep with and without a meditation is vastly different.
Minimalism - Interesting point on cleaning/tidying. I think minimalism it should help considerably (although I agree it won't reduce it to zero), because you shouldn't confuse or interchange minimalism with organized hoarding. My closet is a mess right now, my June goal is to declutter, donate half of my clothes, and create space to move my husband's clothes into the same space. I could pay $2000 for closet organization but fill it up to the brim, then I'm not really being minimalistic - I see way too many people spending $$$ at the container store and bed bath & beyond, etc but in reality, they are not being minimalists, just organized hoarders. out of sight, out of mind - for me, this would be worse than where I am right now.
The irony just from this week though is - I learnt from 3 local friends that they are upgrading to 4500-5000 sq ft homes....here I am wanting to reduce clutter and make my 1700 sq ft of living space suffice, and people around me want triple that size.
Lazy vs doing less I find myself grappling over that too. I think it comes down to what we want and what is enough for us May be. Everybody’s threshold is different, and we should do what works for us!
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