“Do you want room with that?”
– Starbucks barista
Not a coffee drinker myself, I was confused when a barista asked if I wanted “room with that” when I ordered coffee for a friend. What she meant, of course, was room for other things—space for milk or cream, for instance. “Yes,” I said. “I want room.”
We fill our lives to the brim with job, family and social activities, rarely leaving ourselves room. Sure, there’s a rush we feel when we knock items off of our to-do lists or spend time with people we love. But my experience is that there can be a cost, too.
Excitement can mask our exhaustion, so sometimes we don’t realize how wiped out we are. Or perhaps we realize it but don’t give ourselves permission to really rest—to retreat. Recognizing my need to retreat from a packed schedule, my husband surprised me with a portable futon that has become a sanctuary for me—a place to write, think, read and nap. We’re calling it the “Zen Jen,” and it’s become my version of milk or cream.
In what ways can you give yourself more room in your life?
Thank you, Jenny. At one of your yoga writing sessions I came across this quote from Thomas Merton. "The rush and pressure of Modern Life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in every thing is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation in violence. The frenzy destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of One's Own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.
ReplyDeleteDonna, thank you for sharing this message of the perils of an overscheduled life. I’ve taken on some new (temporary) projects lately, and your message inspires me to postpone other ventures in my life to avoid the frenzy. Gratefully, Jenny
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