"I wasn't surrounded by undone tasks or craft projects waiting for enough available brain power to get me over a tricky bit. I was just… out and about… being." I love that last phrase abut being out and "being". The tension between this and our "to do lists" seems a key one to negotiate well to support our wellbeing. Thank you for this insightful essay.
Thank you Jeffrey for reading and responding — and reposting! The longer I have chronic illness the more I recognise that ‘our’ problems managing time and energy are degrees of magnitude worse than, but still recognizably similar to those of ‘normal’ people, including the person I once was.
Sitting in the sun, eating lunch, after a very satisfyingly productive morning clearing gardens of the summer crops, preparatory to planting the winter/spring ones.
And realised that I wasn’t the only one pleased with the work. The blue fairy wrens and red-browed finches were ecstatic at the freshly turned-over soil.
I couldn’t disturb them, now could I?
So I was forced - forced, I tell you! - to sit on my comfy outdoor lounge chair, watching and listening to the Dance Of The Little Bitty Brown Birds as dozens flitted busily from bed to bed, chirping cheerily to eachother and calling over their friends.
Very helpful! Thank you 🌻
"I wasn't surrounded by undone tasks or craft projects waiting for enough available brain power to get me over a tricky bit. I was just… out and about… being." I love that last phrase abut being out and "being". The tension between this and our "to do lists" seems a key one to negotiate well to support our wellbeing. Thank you for this insightful essay.
Thank you Jeffrey for reading and responding — and reposting! The longer I have chronic illness the more I recognise that ‘our’ problems managing time and energy are degrees of magnitude worse than, but still recognizably similar to those of ‘normal’ people, including the person I once was.
I think that’s a crucial insight. We may be at different places on the slopes of hardship, but we’re all on the same hill.
Sitting in the sun, eating lunch, after a very satisfyingly productive morning clearing gardens of the summer crops, preparatory to planting the winter/spring ones.
And realised that I wasn’t the only one pleased with the work. The blue fairy wrens and red-browed finches were ecstatic at the freshly turned-over soil.
I couldn’t disturb them, now could I?
So I was forced - forced, I tell you! - to sit on my comfy outdoor lounge chair, watching and listening to the Dance Of The Little Bitty Brown Birds as dozens flitted busily from bed to bed, chirping cheerily to eachother and calling over their friends.
Only when they left did I move.
Worth it.
Nature may abhor a vacuum but it seems pretty keen on a balance of activity and rest ❤️