I have friends and family who have to stay at home, except for very few reasons at the moment. Life is very restricted. We cannot just up and travel somewhere to see loved ones. Even without heavy covid restrictions, there is still a lot of have to's we need to tend and give attention to in life. I have to help the kids be organised in life - or they won't eat, or get to school in a timely fashion. I have to tend to multiple relationships, and demands, expectations that others hold. If I don't, social interactivity becomes quite difficult and fraught. And I won't get paid. |
Life has over the past few weeks, been rather full. Fuller than it ordinarily is, and fuller than I care to live it. But it has been needed. Now I can reclaim some of that full time with room for space. To decide what I think about, what I do, where I move (even in the house or backyard), and to an extent who I engage with. These spaces allow room to draw down, decompress, delight, dream and create. They reduce agitation, a sense of frayed and frazzled edges, hyper sensitive nerves that are on alert status. They enable agility, compassion, calm and grounding to return. They enable an in-depth connection to again be present, and from there, can come authentic, real, and genuine connection with others - especially the ones I live with!
It is easier to do the have to's from rest and play, than to attend to have to's - work, and then rest and play. For me if the pattern is work, then rest and play, I need twice as much rest and play. But if I can spring into life from a place of rest and play, to work - the have to's feel and seem much more efficient and productive. And relationships much more connected.
May we each find those small breathing, wondering, wandering spaces, where the have to's can for a moment be stilled, and rest and play take hold.