Just Because Someone "Side Steps" Doesn't Mean Something is WRONG!

Greetings, all!

I have taken a brief break from writing and keeping up with things... for no particular reason other than not feeling inspired and being busy with other things in my world.

I found myself pondering the interesting juxtaposition of people worrying whether something is "wrong" when we sidestep life for a few days... and the fact that all manners of mental health and life "advice" suggests that we should be wary of too much routine and sameness... because it might give rise to boredom and complacency... and even depression.

Seems like the world expects us to have reasons for everything... and "because I didn't feel like it" is often not an "acceptable" reason.

Looking back across a life that has included many different kinds of creativity, I definitely have cycles. And it has been fairly consistent that I tend to feel "heavy" and slow-minded during the 3-4 days leading up to a full Moon... and then I start "coming back" from that point forward.

Some folks think that's "crazy thinking," but if you think about it, the Moon's pull is strong enough to cause massive tidal shifts in planet Earth's huge oceans, and the human body is about 60% water... you do the math!

I decided to sit down and start writing this afternoon... some 7-8 hours before my "usual" time, because I felt like it.

Isn't it interesting how much we humans become addicted to clocks, and routines, and doing things according to time?

I feel pretty sure our ancestors didn't look at the sundial (being facetious...) before going hunting, or fishing. It felt like "the right time," and off they went.

It wasn't that they didn't DO things, it just wasn't on a schedule, it was when the time felt right. Or the weather. Or the situation.

As a species, we have almost entirely lost touch with the idea of living our lives according to how the situation feels. We use schedules, rather than our intuition, and our ability to "read" the landscapes and environments around us.

Then we call it "more efficient" and "time management," while often ending up feeling resistant and stressed over what we now feel like we "have to" do.

As testament to how far out of phase we have come, I know many people who would start feeling on edge and anxious if they didn't have a strict schedule to follow.

One of the things I loved about living in Spain when I was a teenager was the daily "siesta." Pretty much everything — including construction sites, supermarkets, offices — ground to a total stop somewhere between 1:00-2:00 in the afternoon... and then resumed around 4:30-5:00 in the early evening.

No, it was definitely not "efficient," but efficiency wasn't very high on the list of things people valued in life. Having a good life that flowed at a livable pace was.

Sure, some people took actual naps, but mostly it was an opportunity to break your day up, with a reasonable rest period in the middle of things.

Houses still got built. Papers still got filed. Shopping still got done. Money still flowed through banks...

I feel grateful that I have the "luxury" of being able to sidestep life a little... and to just forget that I have a routine. I don't have much of one, because I am self-employed, but I still have to engage with clients and customers, and they are beholden to clocks.

But not being being beholden to clocks and schedules... and always doing the same thing doesn't mean that something is WRONG!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about you? Do you feel beholden to fixed schedules? Are you comfortable with that? Or would you rather do things "by feel?" Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2024.04.23 17:14 PDT
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