A few weeks ago, I spoke to an American who's been living in Mexico for a couple of years. I told her I was still coming to grips with not having to be anywhere or do anything. Her response was "Yes, it takes time to spin down." I looked at her with the obvious question - what is "spin down?"
She said it takes time to get over the standard American (or maybe it's a western civilization) idea that we must be working, exercising, being somewhere, doing something, that we feel guilty not doing anything. We have so many words for how we measure time: "wasting" time, "spending" time, "losing" time. None of which contribute to being in the present moment. I've had days here where I've planned to do something, say go to a cafe for an hour or so and it's turned into 3 or 4 hours. People stop by to say hi, chat for a while or invite me to come with them somewhere and time just flows. It's hard because I think I should be writing or doing some other task I set for myself and I wind up feeling guilty. I've been challenged to remember that these are expectations I put on myself. Mexico is helping me learn to just be in the present and not get so hung up on accomplishing whatever I think it is that's so important in that moment. So I've promised myself to slow down and spin down!
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