(For anyone who feels too busy)
My favorite quote is by Henry David Thoreau. "Our lives are frittered away by detail. Simplify. Simplify." These words have kept me tethered to my soul, but as of late, I'm needing to return to them. After improved health and renewed energy, I've taken on too much. It's not that I have delusions that I'm indispensible, nor can I complain that I'm unable to say no when asked to do projects or committees. I'm become so good at saying no, no one asks me any more. My problem is that I've gladly chosen my work, this blog, and a couple other creative projects, all while continuing to address complicated (though not severe) health issues for my daughter and myself. I can be a machine when it comes to attending to the details I believe each of these require. If you know any machines, you know they're not the best at being present in their relationships with those they love or even with themselves. When my fatigue isn't telling me that I've recently passed a threshold, my soul is - "How long are you going to keep this up?"..."Does something bad have to happen for you to make a change?"..."What about regret for lost time?"..."When are you going to learn to be present?"..."What do you mean, 'What does that mean'?" ...and, the dreaded..."Ahem... Your life, as your doing it at the moment, is totally being frittered away," which she knows I really hate to hear. Courtney A Brown
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(For anyone longing for simplicity or clarity.)
I'm looking forward to the day when on a moments notice, I can grab everything I need, throw it in a bag and hit the road or sky. I've enjoyed consumption, but now one of my favorite past-times is getting rid of things....forever...ahhh.... Like many, I fondly recall when life was simpler. The last time for me was when I lived in a studio apartment in New York City with one small table, 2 chairs, a sofa sleeper, a trunk and a lovely view. There was nothing more I wanted. I expected my life would evolve and change....marriage, divorce (didn't expect that), marriage (as I'd hoped), a child and a career. My "grown up" years have been filled with more loving, sharing, nurturing, joy, and meaning than I could have imagined. But, never in my youth, did I expect to spend the amount of time I have looking for, buying, returning, loosing, finding, organizing, forgetting, straightening, fixing, dusting, packing and unpacking...things that I didn't care about. I don't know what I might have done with those lost moments, but this summer, I had a taste - sIxteen days in Ireland with my husband, daughter and just three small suitcases. With so little to manage, I felt closer to myself, my family, my purpose, my humanity and the natural world. Thoughts of returning home were followed by an urgent need to purge. My life was about to change and has. With each piece of paper or piece of furniture I send off, I'm that much closer to the life I've long been creating, but always had something in the way. Courtney A. Brown To send this note to a friend: |
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"Divine" references the soul, our collective souls and the mystery of life. ArchivesCategories
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