Just as “noise” in a photo can make it really tough to see the focal image (and I’m sorry I don’t have an example but I always delete those photos that are too grainy!), added excess in your daily life can make it really hard to remember and focus on what’s most important.
So life is busy. Life with a little one is chaotic. I can’t seem to ever get on top of the laundry, the dishes, the bills, the clutter in the back seat of my car, and on and on. It has been really bothering me that there’s always something to pick up when leaving one room to take to another room.
And so I’m trying to loosen my need for perfection and to reframe my thinking. There is a middle way between disaster and perfect order and I want to live there. When I pick up a toy or an old drink cup or a pair of shoes, I am consciously looking at it with love, remembering how little hands and feet need these items. I am nourishing a life and watching change and growth happen before my eyes. I can get annoyed or I can appreciate. Maybe both at once?
Just as a noisy photo probably has an ISO setting too high or a shutter speed too fast, a chaotic life also needs some added lingering. Slowing down is crucial for me to enjoy my day. Yesterday, my daughter and I were at the pool and it was not crowded for once. I mentioned to her how lovely it is spending a relaxed summer afternoon together with nothing to do and nowhere to be, and I got a hug in return. It reminded me that my daughter feels my stress and that letting that go helps us both.
I am really tired of planning and thinking and scheduling and I’m giving my mind a rest. I’m taking a lesson from my cats and just hanging out more. When I can quiet my mind and surrender to what is, even if the house is not perfect, everyone is happier. I want to enjoy my family, be grateful for the objects that surround us, even that I am lucky enough to have laundry to do – a washer and dryer and enough clothes that we don’t wear the same thing every day.
Kids will be kids, and mine is particularly messy creative. I will continue to let my daughter make her “concoctions,” but maybe the bathtub would be a better place to ease in cleanup and keep me sane.
Anyway, I’m putting a new lens on my internal camera and slowing down. In an attempt to find advice, I just started the ebook How to Stay Sane (School of Life)
how to stay on the path between those two extremes, how to remain stable and yet flexible, coherent and yet able to embrace complexity.” I’ll let you know what I learn.
Please share in the comments how you are doing the same. 🙂
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