As Matt and I continue to prepare for pregnancy, one of the things I keep thinking about is how to make space in our life for pregnancy and the birth of a new baby.
When I took the Mondo Beyondo class about dreaming big, Andrea talked a lot about Making a Clearing. She says, "I am creating space in my life for more richness and more joy. I am creating space to create a home, to nurture myself, my marriage and my family. I am creating space to connect more with my spirit. I am tired of being a doing machine."
"A doing machine." Yes, that pretty much sums up my entire existence.
When Matt and I were planning our wedding, I was also teaching full-time, running a consulting company, looking for a new job, finding a new city to live in, and learning about how to buy a house.
Yes, a doing machine. I made no attempt to make a clearing in my life whatsoever. In fact, I kept adding more and more stuff into our life.
As we prepare for pregnancy, I am truly trying to apply the concept of making a clearing. I am honoring the fact that carrying a baby for nine months and then nurturing an infant takes time and energy and space, and so does planning a wedding.
Planning a wedding can take an enormous amount of time, energy, and space for so many reasons. There are relationship issues to work through, there are difficult conversations to be had, there are conflicts to resolve, there are changes to adjust to, and there's a party to plan.
If you're feeling overwhelmed, I'm wondering if there are ways you could go about making more space in your life to process everything.
What other ideas do you have for making space in our lives?
When I took the Mondo Beyondo class about dreaming big, Andrea talked a lot about Making a Clearing. She says, "I am creating space in my life for more richness and more joy. I am creating space to create a home, to nurture myself, my marriage and my family. I am creating space to connect more with my spirit. I am tired of being a doing machine."
"A doing machine." Yes, that pretty much sums up my entire existence.
When Matt and I were planning our wedding, I was also teaching full-time, running a consulting company, looking for a new job, finding a new city to live in, and learning about how to buy a house.
Yes, a doing machine. I made no attempt to make a clearing in my life whatsoever. In fact, I kept adding more and more stuff into our life.
As we prepare for pregnancy, I am truly trying to apply the concept of making a clearing. I am honoring the fact that carrying a baby for nine months and then nurturing an infant takes time and energy and space, and so does planning a wedding.
Planning a wedding can take an enormous amount of time, energy, and space for so many reasons. There are relationship issues to work through, there are difficult conversations to be had, there are conflicts to resolve, there are changes to adjust to, and there's a party to plan.
If you're feeling overwhelmed, I'm wondering if there are ways you could go about making more space in your life to process everything.
- Is there a commitment you could drop?
- Is there a new commitment coming your way that you can say no too?
- Is there a draining relationship that you can devote less time to?
- Are there small ways to reclaim more time, energy, space? (e.g., by not spending so much time chatting with a chatty colleague, by saying, "I'm sorry, but I can't do it this time" to a favor request?)
What other ideas do you have for making space in our lives?
6 comments:
This may have been addressed in your last point, but I think delegating is a great time saver. If you can do it and feel comfortable doing it- go for it.
In my last place of work, we did lots of team projects or made solo-projects into a project for two. It was really helpful.
Great post!
For me, I don't have a super packed schedule but I still feel overwhelmed sometimes. So I have to go back to a method I used in college - do things with purpose. I try not to waste time thinking about or worrying about wedding items until I am actually ready to sit down and tackle them. Otherwise I waste so much time dilly dallying and worrying and doing nothing. Good time management.
This frees up an incredible amount of time!
I love when you share your research and knowledge on different things, it helps us all out! Maybe you could talk a little more about the process of moving and buying a new house, and what you learned? (I don't know if that would be best here, or at Feeding The Soil, but I read both. :)
Hi, Roxanne: What a stressful process! I thoroughly recommend the book Home Buying for Dummies (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470453656/?tag=feedthesoil-20). It taught me almost everything I needed to know!
I've been thinking a lot about this - making space, living my life more deliberately, having more time for the things I really care about... not necessarily to prepare for pregnancy, but just to have a more fulfilling life in general.
Ironically, the conclusion I reached about what I could drop is: reading/ writing blogs! Ack! (Clearly, I haven't succeeded in this yet...)
I came to the realization that I was too proud to ask for help. And in general, people like being asked. So now I remind myself it's okay to not go it alone all the time, that not all days are superwoman days, that I am not the only one who can do it "correctly" :)
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