Hey friend,
If you're anything like me during this wintery time of year, when the days shorten and the temperature drops, there will be inevitable breaks in the schedule and hiccups in your habits.
Of course!
…but it can feel like dog-sh*t.
On some level we all know that breaks and rest are normal and important part of ANY biological system (including us humanoids), but when the actual moments of release and relaxation come, it can be oh-so-tempting to judge the ever-living snot out of yourself for giving in to that tendency.
And I'm writing to push back on that idea.
Maybe there's a demanding boss or job pushing you to WORK MOAR. Or maybe the WORK MOAR cultural signal is just internalized, and constantly nibbling at the edges (dat me!).
But wherever it's coming from, it's not serving the deepest and greatest version of You.
Lemme back up….the more I notice this WORK MOAR tendency ingrained right into our cultural identity (at least in America), I try to see this yearly, seasonal reminder from nature as a moment to re-contextualize.
As in, zoom out and notice what context all that work exists within. All too often, the work is lending us identity ("I'm a hard worker!") rather than helping us build the world that we want (and/or the version of ourselves that will build that world).
And that's a sneaky and damning substitution.
It's undeniable: the winter solstice season is full of all kinds of things that (potentially) remind us of how wonderful the world is… warmth from strangers, connection with community, gratitude, generosity, ancestral wisdom, food that connects us with each other and our past, and much more. (And…there's a lot of grief during this season, too. #real )
And the real kicker is that our world offers us these 'gifts' just … because!
Just because we're alive, and together, and we made it through another cycle of seasons. Miraculous!
Crucially, we didn't get these gifts because we worked for them.
They just are there, and it's up to us to embrace and connect with them, or…. not.
It is in this context, that the drive to WORK MOAR—without an equally clear-headed idea of what for or why you are working—reveals itself as just another compulsive behavior.
Now….maybe that compulsive behavior is doing some big work for you to help self-soothe these days, and I'm not here to judge what helps you cope with your life-challenges (of which there are also many around this time of year!).
But if I've learned one thing in 2021, it's that the most beautiful, and creative, and delightful things in our world—the really GREAT ideas that each of us might have within—arise out of the moments of nothingness in our life, when there are gaps in all the bustle.
It's in these moments of rest that some of the very best ideas and perspectives begin their slow, ungainly creep into the light of our awareness.
So when the days tighten and the nights get long and cold, I hope that you can lay down the weight of always needing to WORK MOAR, and slice off a few, precious moments of just being.
Who knows what might become clear in those gaps?
Wishing you warmth and wonder this season,
Coach Will