"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, savor you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it will not always be so."
- Mary Jean Irion, American writer, educator
Christian McEwen in this Christian Science Monitor essay titled "Take the Time to Take Things More Slowly" urges all of us to slow down a bit and enjoy the moment we're in--something that in today's world can be difficult to make ourselves do. He shares one of the experiences he had teaching a writing class in London twenty years ago:
"There was a man in this last group whom I'll call George. He was a creaky, lanky, doubtful sort of fellow...I remember his response to one of my assignments: It was the sort of lesson--at least for me as a teacher--that I hope I will never forget...I had asked the class to take some ordinary task--washing the dishes, dusting the bedroom, tidying up the children's toys--and tackle it at less than half the usual speed."
George, a retiree, had a part-time job and at the end of the day always walked home using the same few streets. Thinking about McEwen's assignment, he decided to make his way home using a completely new route. I hope you'll go to the link above and read what George had to say to the class the next day.
McEwen's reaction to his student and his perceptive advice are worth anyone's consideration:
"It sounds so simple--almost too simple to be worth saying. But taking the time to slow down in this way can be a tremendous source of joy. It gives you time to listen, to pay attention. And that in turn allows you to take in whatever surrounds you in the outer world: to be engaged and nourished by it.
Just as important, slowing down frees you to listen inwards: to muse, to remember, to imagine, to dream. It gives you time to mull over a book you've been reading, or to sort out your jangled reactions to a difficult conversation."
How do we slow down and tune in? How do we become more aware of what's going on around us and immerse ourselves in the present moment? How can we truly savor each day, and live it to the fullest?
I don't believe the old Nike commercial, "Just Do It!" is the solution, though it has its merits and sometimes works for me when I'm procrastinating about something. These questions, instead, require some reflection, and that's what McEwen is suggesting we do--slow down, become more aware of things and reflect a bit about what's happening around us. Keeping that in mind, I'd say there are two things that have helped me do this.
Writing is one of them. Not the writing I do on this weblog, but the writing I've done over the years in my personal journals. I find that sitting down, usually in the morning, taking a pen in hand and writing about whatever is on my mind, has always helped me to better understand what is happening in my life.
Many times after writing about something that is troubling me I find in my written reflections an answer that I don't think I would have discovered had I not taken the time to put my thoughts on paper. Going back and reading something I wrote years ago can be helpful too. Reading about my past has often given me the insight I've needed to deal with things going on in my life today.
The other thing that has helped me with these things is photography and art. As a kid I always enjoyed drawing and sketching. Seeing something that was pleasing to me and drawing it gave me a great deal of satisfaction. When I discovered cameras, another world opened up for me. I found that, as with the sketching, I was always looking for something to photograph and this constant search for a subject enhanced my sensitivity to the things around me.
Now, anytime I find myself too busy, too caught up in the hectic times in which we're living, not interested or engaged, or taking the beauty in my world for granted, I try to remember to reach for my journal or my camera, or both. They help me to slow down, lookaround and consider the things that are important in my life. Soon, I'm back on track. They work for me. What works for you?
2 comments:
Some great advice on fresh perspectives. Sometimes it's as easy as standing on a chair and looking at a room from a different angle.
This reminds me of the way I learned to draw (not that I'm all that good at it.) I read a book called "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." To teach you to close down the left (analytical) side of the brain and open up the right (creative), turn the picture you're trying to draw upside-down. This forces you to pay more attention to how the lines intersect with one another and less on what you're actually drawing.
I decided to begin writing(again)when I realized that I was unable to remember things I had done just a few days back. Either they weren't memorable or my brain had just decided to take a vacation. Whatever--after buying a couple of small notebooks, I started out just relating things I had done that day. No problem with that at all. Thursday came and went, as did Friday and Saturday found me feeling guilty and trying to cram everything from the past two or so days into one everlasting event that ended Saturday. Right now I'm doing this instead of that simply because this is easier. Somehow I am going to have to find the inspiration to follow up with penning today's events going into my notebook. I think the computer has somehow affected my muse. Got to go now while the spark is lit.
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