Nothing

I did something new this week.  Nothing.  For 43 minutes.  It was kinda awesome!
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I'm a Doer.  I prefer to DO things, all the time, in a lot of different ways.  I can sit quietly, but when I do I'm still Doing...reading, knitting, watching TV (rarely), something.

It wasn't intentional.  I set out to take the train downtown and had things to DO with me.  My phone, a magazine in my backpack, my ever-present to-do list - plenty to keep me busy for the ride from Howard to Harrison, but...
...my phone was low on battery so I didn't want to use it up with email, Facebook, music, or a game.
...I had a cup of coffee with me in my Brothers K travel mug that doesn't close so I didn't really have the hands free to navigate my magazine or to-do list.

So I sat.  I had my headphones in my ears so that muffled some of the ambient noise (tell me why, exactly, teenage girls are so LOUD?) a bit and made me feel like I'd created an imaginary force field around me.  I sat alone in my row for several stops, moving over to the window seat to allow someone else to sit down next to me when we got to the Fullerton stop.  43 minutes.

I looked out the window (did you know it's a "thing" to hang a sport's team flag on your back steps?)
I listened to my breath
I watched the people (oh, so much to see!)
I thought (but without direction/goal)

It was kinda awesome.

As a people, we're Doers for the most part.  We Do things at home, at work, on our way to and from - even our rest is often spent Doing things (like classes, right Hip Circle ladies?) which keeps us Doing almost all the time.  I know I Do a lot.  Run the studio.  Lead the Main Street Merchants.  Bellydance.  Teach classes.  Serve on committees. Live life as a Wife, Mom, Friend.  And there's more that I want to Do that I don't always seem to have time to get Done!  Sleep is a time when we don't DO, but how many people do you know with trouble letting go and falling into or staying in sleep?

I like Doing, but I'm pretty excited by this new-found ability to just be and look forward to my next opportunity.  Maybe after I slog through more of those to-do list items.  :-)  How about you?

Month of Me

September was both the fastest and longest month I've seen go by in a while.  Fast because ohmygoshhowisitoctoberalready!  Slow because, what with a whole bunch of changes at home and work, some planned and some unplanned, we sometimes felt like we were slogging through the days.  In all of the chaos and busy-ness, I found that my personal dance practice had gotten lost.

Remember back in March of 2013 when I had the fabulous experience of going to Portland, OR for Rachel Brice's 8 Elements Initiation?  It was a wonderful week away immersed in dance, and I came home charged and ready to focus on bellydance and creativity and self-expression.

Then life happened.  It was ever so easy for me to reschedule my dance practice sessions in favor of doing something for the studio, or subbing a class, or getting a kid from point A to B, or...or...or...  Before I knew it my practice schedule disappeared.  My body noticed the difference right away, but it took a while for my brain to catch up, and even longer for me to come up with a strategy to fix the oversight.

I know this happens for you, too.  Life gets in the way of whatever you're doing for yourself - all those other people and things are so very important, and it's so much easier to focus on them then on yourself.

Let's declare October the Month of Me (not me, Malik, but Me, you).  We'll observe by taking time for ourselves on a daily basis.  Yes, daily.  That might mean something "big" like leaving the house to take a class, or something small like sitting for 5 minutes in between tasks.  If we forget ourselves in the shuffle, who will remember us?  

I am making these commitments to myself for the month of October...the Month of Me:

* Daily yoga practice (20 minutes)

* Twice Weekly personal dance practice (one with Zills, one without)

* Weekly friend time (outside of the studio)

* Weekly date night with Bill

Share your Month of Me commitments as a comment and we'll cheer each other on!