It's Time To Take Time
In a recent piece promoting the movie, The Irishman, Martin Scorcese was quoted as making the comment that, "It's time to take time". And you know what? I think the great man is really on to something.
Time to reflect upon the public moments of our lives-- which is what movies can do, particularly well. And time to reflect upon the private moments of our lives, which movies can also do well. Time to actually be in those moments, as they unfold every hour, of every day? That's what we can do particularly well, with an assist from mindfulness and meditation.
And the time to begin, is right now. Find stillness. Seek out silence. Take a couple of deep breaths, and make some time for yourself. Eyes closed, if you're comfortable doing that (it helps me relax, and turn inward--reminds me that now is, "me time"). Adopt whatever posture may be available, or preferred. Settle on an anchor of your choice (breath/mantra/visual focus or chant) and be with that. It's your time, to take time.
Some people get hung up on the length of time, or the frequency with which one makes time, but I wouldn't encourage that. It may become something that we think about later, but for starters, I say just do it-- for however long may feel right. There'll be time enough to concern one's self with duration or frequency (or time and place), if we decide that "me time" is something we want to begin making a priority.
Commitment, determination, and the juggling of other matters that compete for our time and attention, is something that only we can decide. Maybe something we can't swing today, will be doable tomorrow, or next month, or next year. The challenge of time-suck is real, but your practice can, and will, wait. As the old saying goes, when the student is ready, the teacher appears.
Making time for one's self is what some of the more flamboyant folks I know refer to as a, "radical gift". Radical, or not, I know that time for myself is a gift that I hadn't allowed, or even thought possible, for a very long time-- regrettably, for most of the years that I was practicing law. There just didn't seem to be time.
But I've discovered that the two are not mutually exclusive. The demands of the legal profession and the demands of family, do not preempt or foreclose the availability of some, "me time". They certainly don't minimize the importance of, "me time". And lest there be any doubt in your mind, self-care is not self-ish.
It's time to take time. What are you waiting for?
Time to reflect upon the public moments of our lives-- which is what movies can do, particularly well. And time to reflect upon the private moments of our lives, which movies can also do well. Time to actually be in those moments, as they unfold every hour, of every day? That's what we can do particularly well, with an assist from mindfulness and meditation.
And the time to begin, is right now. Find stillness. Seek out silence. Take a couple of deep breaths, and make some time for yourself. Eyes closed, if you're comfortable doing that (it helps me relax, and turn inward--reminds me that now is, "me time"). Adopt whatever posture may be available, or preferred. Settle on an anchor of your choice (breath/mantra/visual focus or chant) and be with that. It's your time, to take time.
Some people get hung up on the length of time, or the frequency with which one makes time, but I wouldn't encourage that. It may become something that we think about later, but for starters, I say just do it-- for however long may feel right. There'll be time enough to concern one's self with duration or frequency (or time and place), if we decide that "me time" is something we want to begin making a priority.
Commitment, determination, and the juggling of other matters that compete for our time and attention, is something that only we can decide. Maybe something we can't swing today, will be doable tomorrow, or next month, or next year. The challenge of time-suck is real, but your practice can, and will, wait. As the old saying goes, when the student is ready, the teacher appears.
Making time for one's self is what some of the more flamboyant folks I know refer to as a, "radical gift". Radical, or not, I know that time for myself is a gift that I hadn't allowed, or even thought possible, for a very long time-- regrettably, for most of the years that I was practicing law. There just didn't seem to be time.
But I've discovered that the two are not mutually exclusive. The demands of the legal profession and the demands of family, do not preempt or foreclose the availability of some, "me time". They certainly don't minimize the importance of, "me time". And lest there be any doubt in your mind, self-care is not self-ish.
It's time to take time. What are you waiting for?
Dec 1, 2019 by
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