Happy New Year! This message may be a few days late, but in my heart it feels right on-time. Post NYE 2022 I had the energy of a lingering y a w n. Slothfully waking to life after holiday rushes, algorithms and bots sending me every glorious sweater sale known to man and a toddler home full-time.
Day 2 of 2023, I found myself stuck in a familiar pressure cooker combo of:
- Feeling half-awake and half-asleep
- The desire to greet the New Year with new goals, new plans and new words (because resolutions are’t cool anymore)
Stage direction – She yawns. Reaches for more coffee. Yawns again.
Insert the hero of this story – Bacon.
After dropping my daughter off at daycare, I took a deep breath and began to feel waves of – relief, guilt, relief, the ache of distance from the little human I co-created, relief, confusion (“What do I do with myself now?”), relief, and a little twinge of a fight or flight response (this one was flight). I was an hour away from needing to be anywhere. So, I flew to a place where I would be taken care of swiftly, greeted warmly, and the coffee will be strong and hot – Cafe Patachou.
At a table all to myself, coffee in-hand, with that special coffee steam that only lasts for a moment, I sat. As quickly as I sat down, I was lost in thought:
- What do I need?
- What do I want?
- What am I going to DO this year?
Then, the plate hit my table, and I didn’t even remember ordering.
Bacon.
I lift a piece. Take a bite. Close my eyes.
If you’ve seen the Pixar movie Ratatouille, there’s a scene where the protagonist Remi takes a bite of food that explodes with life in his mind. A flurry of color, flavor and sensation. This was my Remi moment.
Salty. Crunchy. Always well done – Bacon.
Bliss.
Pleasure, like pain, can be a powerful disruptor of thought.
Not the “I’m problem solving or learning a new skill” thoughts. Pleasure disrupts the “I’m lost in thought” thoughts. You may not always know which is happening to you, but one of the best ways I’ve found to get clarity is to stop for a moment and check in with your body. The body always knows.
Being lost in thought often feels fidgety, stuck and spinning at the same time; tight and tangled.
Using thought to solve problems or learn often feels expansive, open, exciting, and warm.
The pleasure if savoring a bite of bacon gave me clarity.
Almost instantly, answers to my previous questions were there:
- What do I need?
- What do I want?
- What am I going to DO this year?
- I need rest.
- I want rest.
- Before I can dream up a plan that lights me up and excites me – I must rest.
Pleasure woke me up to the truth. The truth that rest is required to dream, imagine and to live. This is more than a “resolution.” It’s remembering that my body is alive and living things need true care if they are going to thrive.
Considerations
If we make a goal from a place of exhaustion, will it be more likely to feel like a grind?
My gut tells me, “yes.”
Would my most rested and vibrant self choose this?
Most likely, “no.”
What could I create if I rested first and planned later?
I’m not sure, but I’m excited to find out.
For the time being, I’ve committed to rest in a way that serves the moment I need it. It’s like a sleepy “Choose Your Own Adventure” project. If you can relate, I’d love to invite you to join me. The following list has a few examples of ways I’m folding rest into my day. They are held lightly and meant to support me softly like a pillow under my head. I’d encourage you to do the same. Use this list. Make your own. And whatever you choose, let it be soft.
- Touch a living thing before technology first thing in the morning.
- Mediate daily – 1 min counts. 15 minutes is ideal, preferably in the morning. But everything counts.
- Close my eyes and breathe deeply – as many times as I think of it.
- Use the “Do Not Disturb” settings on my phone when I’m resting, meditating, napping etc.
- Whenever I feel that twitchy, unsettled feeling that I should be “doing something,” say in my mind or aloud, “I AM ENOUGH.”
Also, if bacon isn’t your thing…find your own version and savor it:)
Need some more support?
The Treasured Journal & Mediation Series
- A 7 part guided journal to help you deepen your relationship with the most important relationship in your life – the one between you and you.
If you have any thoughts, Q’s or topics that you want me to cover send your thoughts to da******@da*************.com and use the subject line Topic Idea.
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