Life is busy!
Well, if that isn’t stating the obvious. But I think life is just a little too busy. In our house anyway. My husband made an interesting observation the other day. He said that in all this technological advancement to make our lives easier we have forgotten that fundamentally human beings are competitive creatures. So this means there is always someone out there trying to do something better and faster. And we expect instant responses from others now. The result, in business at least, is that if we don’t get an immediate response to a query/problem then we will consider taking our business elsewhere. And there are usually many other sources of whatever business you’re in to choose from. The pressure on us all to perform is amazingly intense.
Added to this a lot of us don’t take the time to think through our responses before we act because we only have time to react. Most reactions come from the unconscious part of our brain: memories, past experiences, childhood lesson. So we’re loosing the capacity for wisdom. With writing they say that the first five ideas you come up with when solving story problems are likely to be cliched. They’ve usually been done before. The writer is encouraged to brainstorm up to 20 ideas to find that spark of originality. If we transfer this idea to everyday life then what we are accessing is not necessarily originality, but wisdom. Our own collective wisdom passed down through the ages. The accumulation of all that we are, all that we’ve seen, and all that we want to be.
I know we all hark back to times when there actually seemed to be time – but that’s not very original! What we need is to find ways to take the time to access our own deep pools of wisdom and not give into the current modus operandi of having the best answer on the tip of our tongue. Trying to keep up with those around you is a fools game. My yoga teacher has a great saying ‘find the lightness in the pose’. During October and most of November I haven’t done that. I was filled with a silly resentment at how busy I was and how much there was to do that I wasted the little time I had feeling sorry for myself. Which on reflection, is great writing material. Eventually. When I’ve had time to let the insights gained from being in a mini-funk settle so that the wisdom of it floats to the top! Now, let me see where I can slot that into my busy schedule….!
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