In an act of self-promotion, here are two of the latest things I have written for the News Sentinel, both covering last week's 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts.
This is about the program's East Tennessee roots and the history behind some of the earliest troops.
This is about the family that lives on and manages the property of the Girl Scout camp in nearby Andersonville, Tenn.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
productivity is not the same as fruitfulness
The Leap Day came and went, as most days do, in a blur of commitments and rushing from place to place. The "extra" day, much like the free hour acquired during Daylight Savings Time, didn't garner any more items crossed off the to-do list than any other. Rats.
Somehow in the midst of life management, work, small groups, relationships and some semblance of a regular sleep schedule, I still put pressure on myself to have no downtime. Because downtime=lost productivity=laziness, right?
I say yes to things I don't want to do because I don't want to have to deal with the fallout of saying no, and explaining that I do, in fact, need time to revive and refresh before beginning the cycle again on Monday morning. This pressure we feel to be constantly connected, plugged in and available is draining to the body, mind and spirit. Taking time for yourself does not=lazy/sketchy. It means that you know your limits and what you need to operate from day to day.
The Lenten season has introduced the concept of adding/taking away practices that I want to integrate into daily life/don't want to get back, respectively. Things I don't want to get back? Feeling guilty for saying no. Things I want to become second nature? Being a woman at rest, and being a human be-ing and not a human do-ing.
Two articles I read today that spurned this amalgamation of thoughts are "Leap Year and the Gift of Time," on the Radical Womanhood blog, and "Pilgrimage," on the bluebookblog. Good stuff, worth a read.
At the end of a busy week, today is a rare day of rest; catching up on reading and unpaid bills and enjoying the feeling of having to be nowhere.
Somehow in the midst of life management, work, small groups, relationships and some semblance of a regular sleep schedule, I still put pressure on myself to have no downtime. Because downtime=lost productivity=laziness, right?
I say yes to things I don't want to do because I don't want to have to deal with the fallout of saying no, and explaining that I do, in fact, need time to revive and refresh before beginning the cycle again on Monday morning. This pressure we feel to be constantly connected, plugged in and available is draining to the body, mind and spirit. Taking time for yourself does not=lazy/sketchy. It means that you know your limits and what you need to operate from day to day.
The Lenten season has introduced the concept of adding/taking away practices that I want to integrate into daily life/don't want to get back, respectively. Things I don't want to get back? Feeling guilty for saying no. Things I want to become second nature? Being a woman at rest, and being a human be-ing and not a human do-ing.
Two articles I read today that spurned this amalgamation of thoughts are "Leap Year and the Gift of Time," on the Radical Womanhood blog, and "Pilgrimage," on the bluebookblog. Good stuff, worth a read.
At the end of a busy week, today is a rare day of rest; catching up on reading and unpaid bills and enjoying the feeling of having to be nowhere.
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