Wonderful Wednesday #118
Thoughts on sharing less and being here or there more oh- and some lovely things from lately.
I’m getting so much better at being. A skill that should be second nature to me—to us— really: To be completely still and focus on one singular thing is actually much harder than it seems and, has somehow become something that I have actually had to re-teach myself how to do. Which seems a bit silly.
It began once I realised how much better I felt if i tried to do one thing at a time. Once, my lists got longer the more I ticked off them and, this never-ending feeling list resulted in me trying to do as many things off it as I could all at once and, always in a bit of a panic trying to tick off as much as I could. It’s hard for that mentality not to smudge into other parts of your life and muddle those precious boundaries. Especially when we’re so often encouraged to multi-task, that more is nearly always better than less and that we can side hustle or bio-hack anything and everything these days.
Once I did less, I slowly began to expect less and to shrug off the idea that this ‘strange to me notion’ was negative. And somehow this magical undoing of pressure, relaxing of lists and of volume has made me want to share less too.
To be there, in that one moment all by myself, instead. To keep some things sort-of sacred.
My earliest memories of more visual social media is of sharing meals: Pleasing plates of delicious food that just looked pretty really. Then all of a sudden and like so many of us it was views of where I was stood, views from my bike, my walk, the sky, the leaves on trees, the flowers etc etc. It’s a recognisable pattern because I think we have all shared or still do share the same. I still share an iteration of these things now. They’re moments and things that are so normal that we can all relate to them and be inspired.
And there’s magic in sharing, togetherness and connection, isn’t there?
But somewhere amongst it all: The views and the plates and the being inspired, i began to forget to be there myself. I lost the idea that I was there at all and sometimes the moment passed me by altogether because I was so busy sharing it with everybody else first.
We can record and edit and make beautiful all of these clips and photos and moments but in reality nothing ever quite compares to being right there in it.
Like most of life it’s about balance and it’s personal too but it’s also so much about not forgetting our own connection to what is right infront of us. I think with so many ways to take us away from the present and convince us that somewhere else is always better, we’ve some how lost value and maybe even the magic of what is right infront of us. And I think it’s a little bit sad.
I think that less has made me value the smaller things even more. Magically there is more to see and feel and treasure because I am there and open to letting it find me first. It’s as if I have gone full circle but couldn’t have found my ‘less’ without feeling the pressure that ‘more’ can often bring if it’s not in balance with everything else around me.
Which makes it naturally easier to notice the small and nearly forgotten bits to be grateful for and to treasure and appreciate them even more. Here are a few from lately:
1 Light. Is it just me or do the days seems to go on and on and on when there is sun in the sky?! I haven’t even minded waking naturally almost an hour earlier and I’m so enjoying having a cup of tea in the garden again in sun that feels warm and in time that just feels less rushed.
2 Batch cooking recipes and that reassuring feeling that you have meals that can be brought back to life quickly and that have been prepared with care and love. This week a great big squash, chickpea and ginger chicken curry which was so good!
3 Evening cycles home that aren’t cold and don’t feel rushed. Noticing more because of it and lingering a little longer too.
4 Wide open windows whilst making supper.
5 Creamy porridge with coconut yoghurt and frozen berries on bright mornings.
What smaller moments are you most grateful for these days? Do you fair better with less of anything or do you disagree and feel inspired and your best self when there is more of most things to go round? Do you love to share and to be shared with or have you also found yourself sharing less lately? You’ll have to let me know.
I loved this so much, as ever. I too, am also trying to do less during my days- as I have found myself trying to tick off dozens of things at once (often not completing any of them!) I think the realisation happened when I saw someone (of whom I admire in the work arena) share their 'what I do in a day' (on Instagram, ironically) and saw they hadn't done hundreds of things. They'd prepped for a project, made a delicious lunch and things took as long as they needed to. It helped me reframe that quantity isn't the most important thing but just carving out quality time to do something carefully and with thought. Yes, yes, yes to all of this (basically)!
Bring back the #fromwhereistand trend! I loved feeling connected to others in those hazy early days of blogging and Instagram. You’re so right in saying that everything feels too ‘much’ – having less feels far more aspirational these days. As does that elusive short to-do list! I’ve recently(ish) transitioned to a weekly to-do list that I can chip away at over seven days; it removes the need to add more once my daily list is done.