What’s The Hurry???
Why do people increasingly seem to be in such a rush these days? Driving impatiently, aggressively, tail gaiting, darting in and out of lanes . . . This is particularly pronounced, the closer we get to city centres.
It's easy to get caught up in the frenetic pace, yet; In recent years, I have made changes to be in less of a hurry.
It seems to me, nothing is accomplished by being in this stressed state. It seems unnatural, forced, and disconnected from nature’s natural rhythmic flow.
Some Perspective . . .
After recently returning from a composing retreat in the mountains, visiting smaller towns, the contrast is marked, The pace is slow, and relaxed, people seem happier, healthier and there is a sense of vibrancy, community and creativity, where people have time to stop and chat, sit down for a coffee in a cup, instead of a takeaway on the run. I had more spontaneous and unhurried chats with strangers in the space of a week, than in years living in city areas and densely populated suburbs.
Give yourself a break!
It is a good personal reminder, for my self-care, the importance of slowing down, to not participate in the madness of being perpetually in a rush. My thoughts and feelings about this are;
Finding our natural flow, is a way of being kind to ourselves and giving ourselves the gift of time, to explore our inner world- Time to breathe, to just ‘be,’ to ‘listen,’ to read, to be curious, to create, play music, paint, cook, garden, tend to ourselves and to remember and nurture our inner child.
Overcoming Blocks . . .
Slowing down can be used as a tool to overcome blocks. Being intentionally slow as meditation and mindfulness. For instance, recently, I was composing and becoming frustrated after several days of toiling that I felt unable to see any of my ideas through to completion. I became fixated on the end result- ‘the artifact’ itself and lost the joy of being present in the moment that the creative process itself brings.
I caught myself and simply stopped what I was doing . . .
Realising that I was ‘in my head.’ I stopped, became still and just ‘waited.’ After a short time, maybe only a minute, the simple act of sitting still helped my thoughts calm down, and I was able to return to the present moment and be present, in my body. Then spontaneously, the muse showed up, and I started playing, this time from my heart instead of my head. A whole piece channelled through, through the joy of being in the moment.
Immerse . . .
I called the piece ‘Immerse.’ It is a peaceful piano piece about the experience of overcoming blocks through slowing down, surrendering and becoming ‘heart-centred.’ From this space, we can tune in and listen from our ‘whole self’, rather than trying to work out things out only with our mind, ‘logically.’ (I am reminded of the Einstein quote- “We can't solve a problem using the same thinking that we used to create the problem.”)
When this piece came to me, I had an image of the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of North America in my mind, and gentle folk songs with fingerpicked guitars. I tried to emulate this on the piano. I hope that it will give you a moment of pause to help you slow down in your own life.
In a nutshell:
Find something you love doing and immerse yourself in it!
Listen to Immerse on Spotify, Pandora, Apple, Youtube or your favourite streaming service.
