"Slow down and agree to get less done. Every day take two things off of your "to do" list."
--Anne Lamott
Last Thursday I showed up to dinner with a friend and the first thing she asked me was, "Are you okay?"
My answer? "I don't think so."
Last week was a beast of a week and it culminated in that Thursday. Just sitting down to dinner and talking with a friend helped.
That night I decided to go away for the weekend. The next morning I got online and looked up an old article in Seattle Woman Magazine that I remembered reading in 2009. It was about local retreat sites.
I chose one, called up the owner and asked if I could come that afternoon. He said yes and off I went.
Never has a place been so perfectly designed for retreating. Earth Sanctuary on Whidbey Island truly is a little bit of Heaven on Earth.
Designed by Chuck Pettis, author of Secrets of Sacred Space, it is a wonderland of wonders. On this 72-acre nature preserve there are sacred spots at every turn: a labyrinth, Tibetan prayer wheels, a native American medicine wheel, prayer stones, stone circles and even a stupa. Each imbued with its own special energy.
I walked. I prayed. I meditated. I slowed down.
I also wrote, but not frantically, as I sometimes do in order to GET IT DONE so I can move on to the next thing. I wrote mindfully, purposefully, with passion and with love.
And I made a promise to myself to do this more often. To take more breaks. To take more breaths. To get less done.
I urge you this week to look at your own life. Where are you racing around like a chicken with your head cut off? Where are you frantic and frazzled? Take a break. Take a breath. Agree to get less done.
[Here's another great article in the same vein from my Twitter friend Fiona: Writing Your Way Towards Slow]
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