For much of my life, I have lived at a pace that didn’t allow me to stop to smell the roses. Even worse, when I was forced to slow down and smell some roses, I began developing a defense for the practice in relationship to my work. Smelling the roses had to be something that served the larger purpose of work. I smelled the roses so that I could rest, or be inspired, so that I could get back to work. Why? Well, simply because I believed that I never did enough.
That has changed a bit in the past few years, thankfully. My experience of burnout, my life turning upside down on account of the pandemic, and a tactile encounter with a way of life that didn’t spin me out of order, all pointed to the real possibility of a different way. The grooves of intense productivity, singular focus, and high achievement are still there and often take significant work to not land in again. However, my experience of the alternative – a life of ease, lightness, peace, and rest – is strong enough within me that I know what it feels like. I have some sense memory of the difference between the two. Which brings me to thinking about thankfulness.
Related Links
More about my experience of burnout
More thinking about loss
Go deeper with Asking the Questions.
Talking Notes - What do we have to be thankful for?