When do we actually have time for ourselves in our hectic everyday life, time for our inner life? We all know that it is important to take time for ourselves, even if not everyone exactly knows why. And even if we knew it, it would often not be so easy.
After working 8-9 hours a day, we still want to experience this and that, meet friends, practice our hobby, and so on and so forth … And when we arrive home, there is so much that needs to be done, and actually we just want to go to bed. Who of you knows this scenario? I still have it very present in my memory, as if I was still in the middle of this life.
How does it feel to switch off? How does it feel to not do anything and having all the time in the world? How does it feel to be surrounded by silence for a long time?
I only get to know this feeling now that I’m sitting out here in the middle of nowhere and experience it every day. Although very few people can share this experience with me and answer the questions above, many are afraid of this ‘infinite calm’. Or maybe that’s exactly because they do not know how it is. I have often heard such phrases as “I don’t want to have so much time or silence, otherwise I would be bored”. Unfortunately, many people don’t know what to do with so much time anymore. And what they’re actually afraid of is not boredom, but the fact that they’re confronted with themselves and have to “kill time” with themselves. That may sound absurd to some, but it is true.
Why is it so important to take time for ourselves? What do we get from it?
TIME ALLOWS HEALING.
The saying, “time heals wounds” is not accidental. Even if we mostly use it in the context of broken hearts. Through a long-term deceleration we give our body and our psyche the opportunity to recover from the constant stress that we experience from day to day.
The appearance is deceiving, if we think, we haven’t had much stress during a normal working day. Even if we don’t feel very exhausted, our subconscious mind processes all the impressions that are received by our senses. The brain works at full speed when we absorb various odors, sounds, images and thoughts inside us. In the city, we are particularly exposed a massive flood of information. Anyone who hasn’t grown up in the city knows how exhausting a day in can be. People who are used to the city have (mostly) not learned to deal with stress, only how to ignore it.
Diseases that are caused by too much stress can’t really be cured with medication. The alleviation of chemical tablets is short-lived and, as so often read and heard (!), doesn’t treat the origin of the disease, but only the symptom. In addition, many people are forced into a dependency and have difficulty getting rid of such tablets again. Anyone who tries to think logically realizes that the only solution to healing is to give the body and psyche what they have been asking for so long.
Time to process, time to recover!
IMPORTANT THOUGHTS AND
HOW WE GET TO KNOW OURSELVES BETTER.
Time gives us the opportunity to deepen our thoughts. Time gives us the opportunity to organize our thoughts and to examine them closely. Ample amounts of time give us the opportunity to see which thoughts are conducive to us and our lives, and which ones we can let go.
This process of ‘dealing with thoughts’ may sound simple, but it is quite a challenge for many people. Because at this point, many of us encounter unpleasant insights that our ego can’t and doesn’t want to accept so easily.
At the latest then we know that we are now in a place where we can get to know ourselves better by digging a little deeper. We have to use this opportunity. It gives us a wonderful and a whole new view of ourselves. In addition, this can also be an important point for an inner healing. If you want to try this out and need some jump-start, I have listed a few questions that you can ask yourself to get the flow of thoughts going. Important is: be honest! The answers should not sound good, they should be true.
– What qualities do I like about myself?
– What am I ashamed of? What don’t I like about myself?
– What am I grateful for?
– What am I enjoying and what’s bringing me in a good mood?
– What am I afraid of? What are my worries?
– What was my biggest mistake? Can I forgive myself for that?
– What is my best memory?
– What do I want?
– What are my goals?
– How do I harm myself? What does my inner critic tell me?
– How do I take care of myself? What am I doing good for myself?
– Where do I feel safe?
– Where are my limits?
– What is important to me in life?
– What brings me out of my socket?
– What are my values and what do I believe in?
Those who want to go further automatically start to think about life in general. Here I don’t want to restrict anyone with possible questions. Thoughts should be allowed to flow. Anyway, I’m convinced that everyone gets the right question at the right time (as long as you give yourself time/take time for it).
I myself am not an expert, and I’m in the middle of my thoughts, discovering and learning more and more. Sometimes it’s difficult to share your thoughts with people whose reactions you are afraid of. It’s not always easy to find like-minded people.
DISCOVER CREATIVITY.
If you think you aren’t creative then you are wrong. At least that’s what I’m convinced of. I believe that we can’t develop creativity if we can’t take the time to do so. The other way around, if we had all the time in the world, our original creative urge (which exists in every human being) would spur on us and begin to unfold our creativity. In any form whatsoever.
There are people who say they need time pressure to become productive at all. Many of us in our society have learned to „function“ under pressure and deliver a good performance. I’m also one of them. But when I compare my past work (in my case graphic design), I can say that I have managed the best projects under time-freedom (or at least without much pressure).
During such projects, my curiosity about the subject matter, the fun and the demand for myself to create something beautiful has increased enormously. And after such projects, I always felt inspired to start a new project and express myself creatively. Of course it had to be something that I really wanted and came out of a deep heart’s desire.
There were times when I doubted my creativity. It’s hard to “always having to be creative” in my job industry anyway. And at this point I would like to recommend you a book which has helped me in many ways. I discovered and learned so much about myself. This book fits so well with this post, because it deals, among other things, firmly with the points that I write about here.
The Artist’s Way.
A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
by Julia Cameron.
(Take a closer look at the book!)
Of course, this book is not just for artists or creative people, it’s for everyone! And I really mean for EVERYONE. Even those who want to discover their creativity. Or those who don’t necessarily want to be creative, but want to get to know themselves better. This is not a book that should only be read. It challenges you to work with in a 12-week program while (re)finding your creativity.
I have read this book 1,5 times. A funny number, but I can justify! About 2 years ago, I ordered the book and once read/worked through. It inspired me so much and gave me a whole new perspective on me and my creativity. I knew that I had/wanted to read it again! Because in order to consolidate all this in me, it wasn’t enough to have read it only once. But the everyday life has taken me back after some time, and let me forget the book for a while. About half a year ago I picked the book up again. This time it has affected me so much while reading it, that I wanted to become active and change my life. Effectively. I didn’t want to wait until I’ve finished reading the book. That’s when I decided to put it beside after reading half of it. I had to make plan what I wanted and how I would achieve it. Among other things, this book has been a great influence, which has moved me to leave Switzerland and try something new. And with my partner at my side, who has so often encouraged me to take the step, everything seemed easy and feasible. At this point, a big thank you to you, Aaron, is appropriate. ♥︎
Brevity is the soul of wit. I could have written so much more and I often had to hold back, because I didn’t want important points to get lost in a wide desert. It’s more important to me that I can inspire you with my posts. That I can encourage you, to go even deeper into the topic yourself.
There is so much to discuss about this topic and I’m looking forward to your feedbacks and comments!
Much love from Portugal and see you next time.
