Slow Down

-

 "Do less, enjoy it more." 
--The Universe


It seems like everywhere I go in Seattle these days, I see one of these signs. SLOW. It has happened three times today and it isn't even noon.

My first inclination was to be annoyed. WHY are "they" (some anonymous they, probably the government) doing all of this road maintenance during the holiday season when "we" (all the rest of us who are not the government) are all trying to get sh** done?

But yesterday, while complaining silently to myself, another voice chimed in, Maybe it's not a hindrance, but a reminder...

A reminder to slow down, to take it easy, to enjoy.

A few years ago during "the holidays," I was feeling stressed out and overwhelmed. Instead of pushing myself, I decided to lie down and meditate for a few minutes. As I lay there breathing, The Universe sent me this little piece of wisdom, "Do less, enjoy it more."

Do less, enjoy it more. This became my motto for that holiday season and I am reminded of it at some point every year. Yesterday was my reminder.

Slow down. Don't over-schedule. Let some things go. (The word "should" can be your guide here. Anything you feel you "should" do for the holidays, but don't really want to do, may be nudging you to let go.) Do only that which brings you joy. Even for someone else.

My younger son and I have been decorating the house this week and last night we were down to the final task: putting the ornaments on the tree. Having wrangled the lights earlier in the day, I was in favor of no ornaments this year. The tree looked beautiful as it was. I broached this idea with our decorating guru.

"Ummmm...." He wasn't sure.

"Okay," I said, "I'll do it if you agree to help me put them away."

"But that's the worst part," he replied.

"I know," I said with a smile.

He paused. Thinking...."How about if we just put our favorites on the tree this year?" he suggested.

And that's what we did.

The tree looks beautiful and full (I'm not sure HOW we would have gotten all of the ornaments we have on the tree anyway.....) and - Oh joy! - we have HALF as many ornaments to take down in January.

May your holiday season be lovely this year and may you find ways to do less, and enjoy it more.

Love,
Lara

Comments

  1. Elisa BalabramDecember 11, 2019 at 4:18 PM

    Great post and reminder to slow down. Thank you, Lara!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 3, 2022 at 7:07 AM

    video_1.0 and YouTube videos. (access_links - Videodl.cc
    Video_1.0 and YouTube videos. (access_links). https://goo.gl/8o2lKv5Y. By: Video_1.0. By: Video_1.0. By: Video_1.0. By: Video_1.0. By: Video_1.0. By: how to convert youtube to mp3 YouTube_1.0. By: Video_1.0. By: Video_1.0. By: Video_1.0. By: Video_1.0. By:

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wisdom from Raul Julia

-
"...[L]ife itself is a meditation."  --Raul Julia I have always loved Raul Julia, since I first saw him as the sensitive married man having sexual tension with Susan Sarandon while solving a murder in "Compromising Positions" (the cast of which also included the always entertaining Judith Ivey - I love her voice and demeanor so much I think I could watch her in anything). He went on to play defense attorney Sandy Stern in "Presumed Innocent" and of course the beloved patriarch Gomez Addams in "The Addams Family."  His was one the first celebrity deaths - in 1994 - to really effect me. He always seemed to have an undefinably quiet strength and grace. I get it now - he saw his life as a meditation - and that makes all the difference.  I hope someday to be remembered for my quiet grace and thanks to Raul I have one more clue about how to do that. Thanks Raul. For everything.
Read more

Quote of the Week - May 21, 2012 - What happens for one...

-
“On this earth we are connected one to another....to another....to another....to another...to another....to another....to another...such that whatever happens to one of happens to all of us.” -- Anna Grossnickle Hines from her book, "Peaceful Pieces" This is a poem called "Dominoes" that my younger son's class read last week on Friday for " Poetry Aloud ." They read it together as a class, one child starting and each child in turn saying "to another," "to another," "to another..." As I listened, the poem came alive for me. The idea of the poem came alive for me. I saw once again that we are all connected, we are all One and that whatever happens for one of us happens to all of us. Did you notice the Freudian slip there? I wrote, "whatever happens for one of us happens to all of us,"  when what I meant to write was, "whatever happens to one of us happens to all of us." But both are equally tr
Read more

28 Days of Kindness: Day 25

-
Every generation is a life-and-death struggle between wisdom and ignorance,  and there is no guarantees wisdom is going to win.  We have to try to be as human as we can be,  and as kind as we can be, and detach from our need for results.  -- Peter Coyote  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Be as human as you can be. Practice kindness. 28 Days of Kindness .
Read more