Creating Calm

Tuesday evening I was all set to sit down and crank out a blog post. I got out my laptop, signed in, and just…couldn’t. After 8 hours in front of my work computer (still in the dining room), and a tv show over dinner (we’re working our way through all the seasons of Rake), I felt so full-up with technology I couldn’t take one more moment of screen time. I wasn’t feeling anxious, per se. More overwhelmed.

I closed the laptop and got out one of the puzzles I ordered a few weeks ago. I spent the next two hours or so sorting out the edge pieces, putting them together, sorting out the interior pieces according to color, and drinking a couple of mugs of green tea. Making a jigsaw puzzle is such a tactile endeavor – I never realized before how grounding it can be. 

After that experience I read a few articles about how many people are experiencing digital overload during these days of working from home, socializing online, and Netflix binge-watching. When I worked in the office, I still worked the entire 8 hour day at my computer, but there would be interruptions in the form of walking over to the work room to pick up printed sheets, walking over to a neighboring cubicle to ask a question, a few chuckles at the coffee machine, department meetings, or even just hearing an adjacent cubicle-mate venting frustration at their computer. Now my entire day takes place through the computer. I print pages to PDF and save them in DocsVault. I communicate with my colleagues and work friends by text or through a messaging program called Teams. Department meetings are video calls through the same Teams application. And when you’re working from home, getting up from the computer and going to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee or a piece of toast somehow feels more taboo than the same actions taken at the office. I feel like I have to be productive every minute of the workday, which is exhausting.

For the last several days I’ve been purposely spending more time in nature. My lunch hours have been spent sitting on a bench in our back yard or walking the trail in the park at the end of the street. The goal of these walks is not exercise. I walk slowly, looking at the trees, breathing in the Autumn forest smells of damp ground, fallen leaves, and pine trees. I lean on trees now and then to watch the squirrels and the birds. I go off-trail, especially if there are other people in the park, so that I can concentrate on my environment and not on whether or not the person approaching me on the trail will come too close. 

I’m trying to offset the necessary digital portions of my day with things that engage my senses. After reading so many digital books during this covid time, I’m longing for some paper books. The feel of the paper, print that isn’t backlit – I’m realizing that I need the nourishment of that experience again. An actual trip to the library might have to be in my near future. 

I’ve ordered some back issues of a magazine that I enjoy, Bella Grace. It’s a non-glossy magazine for women that has no content on fashion, makeup, fitness, or work. There are no advertisements, so it’s a bit pricy, but the back issues are discounted. What it does have are lovely photographs, bits of poetry, quotes, thoughtful articles, and lists. I love the lists! They have titles like “48 Simple Yet Significant Thank-You Gestures” and “35 Books that have Carried Us Through Hard Times.” I do have a couple of digital issues, which are less expensive than the paper version but not nearly as satisfying. 

On the meditation front, I’ve pulled out a hand-held labyrinth that I received as a gift many years ago, and I’ve been using it to meditate instead of the meditation app on my phone. I’ve always been fascinated with walking labyrinths, like the most famous one in the cathedral in Chartres, France. I’ve only actually walked a labyrinth once, although when Sam was little I used to draw labyrinths on our extra-wide driveway with chalk! With a hand-held labyrinth, you use a stylus to trace over the path. I’ve found that even if my mind is relatively busy while tracing the path, I always finish in a noticeably calmer mood than when I started.

Do you have any activities that soothe you during this still-crazy, information-overload time? 

I hope you are having a restful weekend!

Love,

Michelle xoxo