One of the hardest things for me to do, and I've noticed this for a lot of women, is to take the time for actual resting. Not resting on your butt watching television, not laying in bed working on your to-do list... actual, mindful, peace giving, nothing-doing rest.
It's one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and one of our biggest challenges. For me, personally, if I'm not doing something that I deem "useful", I feel like I'm wasting time... which leads to guilt. I feel guilty for taking a nap, for soaking in the tub for an hour, for sitting out on the patio just watching the birds fly by. It's been so deeply embedded in to my psyche throughout my life that I can no longer find the root cause of this guilt, but I acknowledge that it creeps up, unwanted, when I'm taking some soulful me time.
I'm trying to be more mindful of my rest habits, or rather lack thereof, and take at least a few minutes to really and truly rest. And when the guilt comes on, don't marinate in it or try to define it, but rather acknowledge it and send it on it's way.
I have loved your journey thus far with your paintings....but this rest is quite hard for me to do as well. Good lesson, thanks, Oma Linda
ReplyDeleteI get like this too! I have no idea why, but I am always wracked with guilt if I find myself moseying around doing nothing. I found a quote the other day that I felt really applied to the situation -"a moment you enjoyed wasting is not a wasted moment."
ReplyDeleteI guess we just have to try and squash those awful guilty feelings and look at the garden as much as we like :) love your artwork!
Erin