Monday, November 30, 2015

the gift of slow

Sit down, relax. Take off your shoes and stretch out your toes. Shake your head left and right and imagine your brain is an etch a sketch. With each shake another thought or worry simply erases. If you were here right now I'd make you some hot cocoa and we tuck our legs under us, sit by the fire and talk about life. The real stuff. The good stuff. The awful stuff. The stuff that combined, makes up life.

I keep waiting for life to slow down so I can think and process and figure it all out. But that isn't life. It can't conform to some nice little symmetrical lesson in our head. It's my head that has to slow down really, not life. Life only knows one speed- fast. So I have a little talk with my head. Brain, life is fast, but you don't have to be. You can be slow sometimes. In fact, I highly recommend it. That's when you seem to be happiest. That's when you are most efficient. That's when you feel like you.

In about five hours it will be December 1st. And I haven't done a single lick of Christmas Shopping. And when I first realized that this morning I wanted to throw up a little. But now I don't care. Because my mind slowed down enough to realize- it will all get done. It always gets done. And if it doesn't -it gets done late. But still be done. Why do we put such pressure and limitations on ourselves? Like we are our own worst boss, always nagging. Ugh, I would never work for me with the way I talk to me.

And the Christmas gifts? Hello Amazon Prime. I can pretty much think of a gift and then five seconds later it's being delivered to its recipient. Or something close to that at least. And my boys would be happy with a piece of tape on a box. Which always pisses me off on Christmas morning when they are ignoring some expensive toy in lieu of an old spatula that they suddenly can't live without.

You see, the celebration of the birth of Jesus is real. And Jesus doesn't want presents. So that means the rest of it all- the pressure, the demands, the stress- it's just something someone's brain made up- and then every one of us went along with it. So we can slow down and get off the ride at any time we like. Actually, Jesus may want one gift from us. For us to simply slow down and pay attention to the real stuff more. 


Now that November is over, we have finally hit sweater weather in the Central Valley of California. It feels like the cusp of the end of Fall/beginning of Winter in the Midwest. I miss the Midwest people but not the weather.

We've been enjoying time outside. Celebrating the trees letting go of their leaves.

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It takes time, but even the trees let go of the things they don't need anymore. And this entire process is a beautiful splash of red and orange and green and yellow. Let's all learn from the trees. If it isn't serving you- let it go. It may just turn into something beautiful.

We've been hitting up the parks.

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And in an entire park of play structures, THIS is where Parker wanted to spend the majority of his time. The way he pursed his lips made me do that feel sad smile, where your face is smiling but your heart almost hurts you love them so big. And I can already picture a time when this will be just a memory.

Things are about the get crazy, fast. Take just a minute every darn day, and give yourself the gift of slow. 

Big fat hugs,

Chrissy

2 comments:

  1. These photos are spectacular!

    Thanks for this reminder, Chrissy. Your post has given me a revelation. I'm retired. I report to absolutely no one but myself. Still, I frantically race around, muttering to myself about other drivers slowing me up, switching check-out lanes at the grocery store, and otherwise trying to beat the clock. I live as if daily life is an ongoing emergency, and as a result, I'm a stressed-out, nervous wreck. Tomorrow, when I have my sense of urgency, I'll think of you and your boys. One of the kindest things we can say to ourselves, and to others for that matter, is, "Take your time. I'm in no rush."

    I love reading your blog, and I enjoy your beautiful photos. You are truly gifted, not only as a mom, a writer, and a photographer, but also as a thinker.

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  2. Just wanted to say thankyou, I love your words, you are such an inspiration

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