Watching for the Signals
I’ve only got 20 minutes to write this post.
That’s a signal.
Yesterday I went to pick up Natasha from her work, and we got all the way home when she realized she’d left her purse there.
That’s a signal.
I’ve been having dreams about being at events that weren’t well organized. About missing appointments. About having the wrong equipment in the wrong places at the wrong times. They wake me up several times every night.
Each of those are signals.
Life Isn’t Subtle
What’s going on is that one of the biggest events of the year is happening for us in about a month. We’re juggling presenters, schedules, menus, publicity, budgets, equipment…and it’s literally our full-time job.
Except it’s leaking. It’s coming out in small arguments that we both know are silly, in forgetfulness, in the desire to spend money on New Improved Organizational Stuff, in so many ways…and each of those are signals, telling us:
Slow the %$#@ down.
Hearing the signals is important. Doing something about them is essential. Because at a certain point, if you do not choose to slow down, your life will choose to slow down for you. That can take many forms (one that sticks out in my memory was getting a severe ankle sprain while facilitating an event that forced me to sit for most of the day) but none of them are as pleasant as just choosing to slow down yourself.
What Slowing Down Looks Like
Here’s a hint: different.
Slowing down is different than taking a break. Slowing down means that you need to actually change things. For example, Natasha and I had a goal of going to juggling practice tomorrow night…but that’s also the only night we don’t have other things going on.
So juggling practice has to go. Not “do this other work instead of juggling. Not “go and juggle slowly. No, we simply choose to stay home. To leave some unplanned time.
And it sucks, because I really want to get better at juggling, and I really want to be more of a part of the juggling community here.
But something’s gotta give, and I’d rather that something come out of my schedule than out of me.
Another “slow down” is that this post, which should be researched and annotated and linked and properly publicized has been hurriedly jotted off just so I can cross it off my to-do list.
Pay attention to the signals, my friend. They aren’t subtle, but they will — literally — save your life.
