We found time for a nice chat and cappuccinos in the sunshine this morning.
As the old coffee ads used to say: “The pause that refreshes!”
Friday morning coffee break
Pause. Deep breath.
Pausing to breathe as I finish up a full week and prepare for an intense weekend.
A much-needed pause
I’m always grateful for Thursday evening of SRW.
Saturday was Sevaka retreat. Sunday morning was service, while Sunday evening all the singers, instrumentalists, and dancers came together for our one full rehearsal. Every weekday starts off with music before the morning class. Monday evening was kirtan. Tuesday evening was the concert. Wednesday evening was an inspiring Q&A session with Jyotish and Devi. Thursday afternoon is music and inspiration for donors at the Gratitude Tea.
But tonight…there’s blessed nothing.
Ahhhh…. a chance to catch our breath and clear some mental and psychic space for three more days of inspiration still to come.
Nourishing cleanse update
I came to an important realization today: this wasn’t really the right time to attempt the full nourishing cleanse. I had the bandwidth to make the dietary changes, but trying to add in the other self-care elements has proved challenging and even frustrating.
So, I’m hitting the pause button with the intention of rescheduling it for sometime after Christmas and/or early in the new year. At that point we’ll have been back longer, plus the intense “getting ready for the holidays” energy will be behind us.
The good news is that I feel good about this decision. I plan to continue most of what I’ve been doing, but with a more relaxed attitude as I gradually add back in a bit more food variety.
Bottom line is that I’m grateful for the “course correction” this past week of super healthy eating has given me. I’m grateful for the microbiome mash and for the motivation to learn how to use my Instant Pot. And I’m grateful that the process will be that much easier the next time around.
But most importantly, I’m grateful for being flexible and gentle with myself.
Hitting the pause button
“Hitting the pause button” is my new way of thinking about the days when I do nothing but rest.
It was pointed out to me a while back that I was describing my “do nothing” days in a somewhat negative fashion. Now I make a point of consciously embracing the fact that I do nothing because I’m resting, and resting is a good and valuable activity in and of itself.
The tasks that need doing still buzz around my head like gnats, but they’ll just have to wait until I hit the play button tomorrow.
Making the tough call
We’ve been grappling with the question of choir and singing and safety and masks.
It doesn’t help that issues with the post office have our singing masks in some sort of postal limbo.
Plus we had to accept that not everyone in choir has the same idea of what being “extra careful” means.
Which is all good, but it means we’ve had to pause choir for a bit while we figure things out.
Thoughts on music-making paused…
…because a two-day power outage means no WiFi at home, and I didn’t have a chance to write my blog while in our (generator-powered) office.
It’s been a strange day. I wanted to include photos of the smoke-blackened skies, but for some reason I can’t do it from my phone. Oh well.
I’m grateful we’re only dealing with smoke and praying for those affected by the actual fires. 🙏