The Purposeful Pause
Recently, one of my friends shared the merits of the content calendar. Apparently, it’s a tool in which you plan ahead and maybe even pre-write any posts (blog, social media, etc.) before you do something like, oh, say fly across the ocean for a family vacation. My friend is a genius and he and his crew are incredible at helping people navigate the waters of online-land in a way that fits, and gently grows, their capacity so I know he knows what he’s talking about. I however, have yet to adopt any kind of system like that – which is why I’m spending precious vacation time right now composing a blog post, instead of having a bot publish something I wrote earlier this month while I take a swim in the ocean. As writing views go, I have to say I prefer this one to my usual (my back garden, which I also love). I am totally an oceans woman. I love everything about the sea and can’t get enough of the undulating waves, the salty mist on the air, the way the surf foams as it kisses the shore…
Today’s post comes to you from Kaua’i. I am in love with this island. In. Love. There is something incredibly special about this place, something intangible and mysterious, yet simultaneously visceral. It’s one of those places in the world that I adore, a place that somehow feels older than time, where the land itself is sentient. For me, there is this sense that just being here, in this sacred place, some ancient wisdom is permeating my very cells, recalibrating my core, infusing my spirit with something I cannot name, but truly needed. I feel this often in Nature, but I feel it more acutely here. And after all the doing, the pushing to deadlines on various projects lately, I’m thrilled to have this time to just BE. To allow, to delight, to soak it all in. And I am humbled and awed as everywhere I look, I am constantly reminded of both my insignificance, and my vastness. That I am a drop of water, and also the sea. There is a sense of renewed reverence with each step, and view, and breath, and I am so grateful to be here, now.
Sometimes the work of a creative involves not actively working. Sometimes it involves active rest and simply allowing for spaciousness. I’ve written before about rest being vital and ideas needing space to come through, about taking care of, and tending to, yourself. And I maintain, self-care is not selfish. Our art, our lives, and our people (family, friends, colleagues, communities, etc.) benefit immensely from our taking time to just be. As Anne Lamott says, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” Even just taking a few moments out of the day to simply BE is incredibly powerful for the creative spirit. You don’t have to fly across an ocean to do this (although if you get a chance to go to Kaua’i I highly recommend!). We can BE, right where we are, wherever we are. We have only first to drop the doing, setting it aside, if only for a moment, in favor of allowing and BEing.