CHOOSE TO DO LESS AND BE MORE

 

Twas the week before Christmas

When all through the house of our soul, not a thought was stirring

Not even an email

 

In the Northern hemisphere, this is the season of quiet – if we choose it to be.

Regardless of faith, religion or belief, when winter comes and wraps her arms around us in the embrace of quiet, we are given a choice to accept the pause being offered to us or to ignore its profound invitation to reflect.

 

As a child, I used to hate winter. I felt confined within the house due to the often wet, windy and cold weather of the British Isles. I felt trapped by the expectations of my society, family and friends to feel a certain way about the material expectations of Christmas or the unending stream of work, school and social events that seem to permeate the holiday period in the West.

 

Often I would hide in my room, seeking the solace of silence and the quiet soft voice of the hibernating Earth, hidden deep under the rotting leaves and rare sprinkling of snow.

 

I would listen to music.

I would read and journal.

I would paint.

I would dance.

I would do the things that gave me personal joy.

 

Winter presents us with the quiet pause between the in breath and out breath of the seasons.

We are invited to STOP DOING and START BEING.

 

For it is in the quiet moments that our stories tell us what is really important and what is definitely not.

 

If we are brave enough to apprentice ourselves to the quiet, then all the answers we have been seeking in the outer world throughout the year, present themselves to us from inside our own beingness.

 

We really are the only ones we are seeking.

 

Yet we have to be willing to let go of our dis-ease of busyness and obsession with noise to hear the voice of our wisdom.

 

Stop

Do less

Be more

 

A radical storyhack in a society that compels us to lose ourselves in noise and distraction.

 

In honour of the gift of this season, this will be the last storyhack I write in 2019.It has been a challenging year but one that has presented many gifts hidden in discomfort and challenge.

 

I have learned to see myself in a more honest way this year. I have learned to let go of who I was when I was an angry teenager and step into who I am now as an evolving adult reclaiming her inherent wisdom.

 

Can you do the same?

Accept the real gift of this season: The gift of you.

 

Enjoy the silence when it presents itself to you.

Be brave enough to reflect on the difficult truths that are hidden in your cells.

Stop running away.

Stop allowing yourself to be distracted.

Your power awaits.

You won’t regret it.

 

2020 will bring new energy, new opportunities and new challenges.

I will be back with my weekly storyhacks on the 3rd January.

 

Until then, journey well my friends.