Changing Seasons
You know how sometimes you feel something changing, but you can't quite put your finger on it? That's been the energy for me this week. Instead of forcing answers or trying to figure anything out, I played a little by...
running an 8:21-minute mile - experimenting with pace and seeing what's possible for my body and mind.
helping build a new sukkah at our synagogue - Jews with power tools!
spending much of yesterday thinking about last-minute anniversary gifts for Mani (we celebrate seven years of marriage this coming week).
napping and taking it slow when I could, and choosing not to stress about getting everything done. Everything is never done.
talking to a friend about the possibility of radically shifting how I use social media - the conversation alone felt liberating.
Also, that full moon, that equinox sunrise. Holy wow!
"Write the tale that scares you, that makes you feel uncertain, that isn’t comfortable. I dare you. In a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves, and to in turn feel the need to be constantly visible, for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success—do not be afraid to disappear. From it. From us. For a while. And see what comes to you in the silence."
~ Michaela Coel
So many of us have come to equate social media with visibility, and we equate visibility with validation.
(How many friends, how many followers? How many likes, how many loves?)
Michaela Coel's words reached me this week at a time when I'm feeling a tug towards different ways of connecting. Some of this is so internal, it's not necessarily something anyone would notice if I didn't mention it. But that subtlety is part of the point; if I'm only focused outwardly on "engaging," where am I leaving space to see what else is there, in the dark, the corners, waiting?
Questions to ponder
What changes are you feeling drawn towards?
What if you had a companion, a guide, a witness in that space?
What do you really want to write?
What's stopping you?
Sometimes our creativity needs time — and support — to emerge.
As the season changes, I feel this pull inward. And this year, rather than resisting or fearing it as I sometimes have, I'm finding that I'm genuinely curious about what might happen if I make even more room to really let things change, let myself change, let the work change.