The content that we have access to is so vast and abundant. It’s comparable to the unfathomable nature of the vastness of the universe. We can recognize its size but can’t comprehend it in a tangible sense.
When I think about that I think about what I am sharing with the world. I think about what I am consuming in the world. There is always so much to consume. There is always pressure to create. To keep up. More, more, more. The content creation machine is a beast that cannot be tamed at this point.
When is the last time you’ve created just for the sake of creating without sharing it online?
For me, the answer for a long time was a simple, “I don’t know.” And once I recognized that, I couldn’t forget it. I haven’t forgotten it. But at the same time, I don’t revisit that state of creation very often. It’s always in the back of my mind. Always something that I want to do. It gets pushed down to the bottom of the to-do list for the sake of feeding the content creation beast time and time again.
I think about this in regards to reading books. On Goodreads you can set your reading challenge for the year. I love this because I love a good accountability challenge. It keeps me on track with reading consistently. But on the flip side, I recognize that occasionally I am rushing through books to get them done so that I can stay on track with a number of books I came up with on January 1 to add to my “read” shelf.
Keep up. Keep up. Keep up.
My intention is to live a life full of presence and awareness. My intention is to live intentionally.
That will look a bit different for everyone but generally speaking it has the same core.
Less scrolling. Less consumption. More nature. More connection. Blank spaces on the calendar. Sweet moments of laughter. Delicious meals. Beautiful art. Clean home. Solitude. Company. And the gift to feel it all.
The challenge comes with embodying that. How do you find the balance to do it all? To feel it all? To be it all?
How?
I am plagued with this question day after day. I feel like I’m drowning and I can’t uncover the way.
After putting some time and distance between the most stressful period of my life I am recovering. It has been a long road and I often question if I will ever be the same. Not the same in the sense of going back to my February 2020 self. More so along the lines of feeling less of the grief, stress, trauma, and dysregulation that has become the essence of my life experience. Moving on is the hardest part when the part of you that you want to kill also feels like the very part of you that keeps you alive.
It’s like embarking on a new journey of finding yourself again.
“Find yourself,” is one of those cheesy statements that sounds great until you try to do it and recognize that you have no idea how to even begin. Usually, how to begin is also the thing we resist the most. So while we might say that we don’t know how, we do. We just don’t want to go down that path.
The path starts by doing less. Scrolling less. Numbing less. Less creating for the sake of feeling like you have to so you can “keep up.”
Less. Less. Less.
And instead, bringing in more space. More silence. More offline time. More you.
La passeggiata is an Italian practice meaning “little walk.” Every evening they head out for a gentle walk through town to get moving and converse with others. It’s a practice that enhances the mind, body, and spirit and something that Americans wouldn’t dream of doing. Well, maybe we’d dream of it but it would stop there.
It doesn’t have to stop there though.
I am here to do things different and if you’re reading this then I bet you are too. How can you create your own la passeggiata in your area? Get out, get moving, communicate, and enjoy away from the confines of the four walls and rectangular devices that consume our days.
Lily and I go for a 45 minute walk every Monday-Friday after lunch. It is powerful medicine.
Instead of feeding the content creation beast, how can you feed yourself first?
I believe in living a both/and life so there is most certainly room for both but the order or priority is important.
Morning routine happens first. Then work and screens. Afternoon happens followed by more work and screens. You can and will have both. The balance is key.
We are still in winter for about 5 more weeks. It’s a perfect time to begin to incorporate more stillness and self priority that can carry you through the rest of the year.
Allow yourself to empty pockets of your life so that you can have some blank spaces while others can be fill with something new.
Grant yourself the permission to do things differently.
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