if you follow my blog, you will have noticed i have seasons where i get unsettled. i have a longing - one that is often hidden deep inside and rarely shared with anyone. i like it kept quietly tucked in my heart and mind. but lately this desire keeps rising to the surface. the desire to slow down, to be present, to be quiet.
last week hubby brought the nooma noise dvd for 20x class. we had not previewed it - but boy was it good. there was a bit of noise and talking and then silence. silence for about 7-8 minutes while we read words written in write text on a black screen. simple, pure, silent, penetrating...
the past 3 weeks have been a whirlwind around here. we went from being settled here at home to buying a farm outside of town. this is one of those times when i feel like God is totally smiling down on us...and in the midst of this whirl fell thanksgiving. i tried to reflect on this past year. boy has it been good...just a good year, it just seemed like the reflecting was done while baking, shopping, looking at lights and paint colors.
yesterday, i was flipping through magazines and found an article that caught my attention. it was written by a man that decided to live an experiment. for 1 month he didn't multi-task. the article contained samplings of his daily journal entries. it was quite difficult at first and i found myself laughing. when he said he ate his lunch - just ate his lunch, didn't check email, didn't read snail mail, didn't work on any other task than eating - i stopped. isn't that how we live? isn't that how i live?
in class last week we talked about being tied to our cell phones. they really do everything for us, surf the web, chat, text, call people, etc...crazy isn't it, that we are so controlled by that small thing? but we are, we really are. i don't even know my cell number, it doesn't have voicemail, and it doesn't surf the web.
as i've been processing this whole multi-tasking thing i'm left in a quandry....i hear so often how the ability to multi-task is a great gift to have. that is what every company looks for in employees right? as mom's, don't we have to multi-task ALL THE TIME!?!??
hmm...i'm starting to wonder if that really is a great gift to have. i guess it comes in handy, but what i'm starting to notice is that in our multi-tasking we are never fully present. could you honestly just sit and eat lunch? no music, no reading, no computer, no tv? could you work on a task without having your email popping up? could you stop folding the clothes to look at and listen to your child when they come to talk to you? i mean, don't we always ask them to stop and look at us when we are talking to them? why don't we?
i loved reading his entries....they were real and honest, it was hard for this guy. incredibly hard for him to sit and play blocks with his young boy while not watching the news over the boy's shoulder. it was hard to talk on the phone without also surfing the web.
i think in so many ways we multi-task in our relationship with Jesus. we go for a run with our ipod on while saying that we are spending time with God. okay, so that is a personal issue i'm currently having. am i really spending time with God? i seem to be focused on my watch, what song is playing, how far i've gone. sure, God has spoken to me and refreshed my soul while running, but am i giving Him the attention he deserves.
i made dinner the other night in a fury...it wasn't good for anyone. you know why? i was multi-tasking and it stressed me out. which in turned made for a stressful dinner. i needed to stop and breathe. i needed to single task.
this guy said that when his mind started to wander he would stop and say outloud what task he was doing. at first he said it was weird, but by the night he was playing blocks with his son, he said it outloud and smiled. it felt good to hear it.
stop right now and list out loud all that you are doing. for me, i'm listening to my playlist, typing, peeling an apple for one child, getting asked to make a smoothie for another, the tv is playing in the other room. i got up to go to the bathroom, get a bottle of water, and make a return phone call. i have done all of that while typing this entry!!
i think i need to single task!!!!! what would our day, our moods, our life look like if stopped multi-tasking? what would mine look like? just a thought. could you do it? could you stop multi-tasking for just one day? i'm not sure......
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