Over Easter, my kids went to their Dad for a few days so unlike any normal human, who may decide to indulge in a little ‘me’ time, sans kids, I took to the paintbrush. ‘How very Gaugin of you’ I hear you say, but no, not the aesthetic type of paintbrush, it was the roller and tray type of paintbrush. I went at my garden like Mel Gibson in Braveheart.
Having slowly worked on my house over the last two years, it was time to face the beast outback. I painted, planted, and potted. I wheelbarrowed two tonnes of stones and dangled off a ladder like a Russian gymnast on acid. I assembled flat pack furniture bought the year previously and only have a modicum amount of nuts and bolts left over. I spray-painted lanterns and assembled gazebos. The goal was to have it finished for my daughter’s 12th birthday so we would have a celebratory lunch there and lunch there we did: albeit with me half dead.
It took me a week on and off and it took another week to recover. There was one detail I had neglected to factor into my manic plan of garden renovation…I am not as young as I used to be. Now I’m not usually one for clichés, and the old ‘you are as young as you feel’ mantra aside, I did have to concede on completion that had I applied a slightly slower pace, got a bit more help, and took my time I may not now be needing my appointment with the local chiropractor, or simply feel like my battery is on a permanent one red bar.
The moral of the story, my brain is now finally accepting that I can’t move at the pace I used to. This is a revelation to me really. I grew up working jobs that required me to be fast. I started working in A-Wear on Grafton St at the tender age of sixteen. It was simply one of the busiest shops in the country and I ran around it like a hare being chased, restocking shelves, cleaning rails, and generally sweating my ass off as that was what was expected of you back then…in the olden days…in the mid-eighties hangover from Ireland being a third world nation and jobs being hard to come by. If you got one you worked hard and didn’t question anything: millennial entitlement didn’t exist and the Celtic tiger cub had not been born. I continued to work in this way much of my adult life. If it wasn’t running around restaurants, in Dublin, London, New York, or San Francisco, spinning many plates at once, literally and metaphorically, it was fast-paced and high-pressure jobs, in companies, in film, or on tour. The point being, I worked my socks off and it was always fast, efficient, and manic. This is a mindset. Fast forward now…pardon the pun… to my work ethic. It’s still the same and I have just realized that nothing is chasing me to get the job done, I won’t be fired, and if it takes twice as long to do as I anticipated then that’s ok too. Also, my body is saying, hey, old girl, take a chill pill, there’s no rush. In the words of Brene Brown, ‘whatever gets done, or doesn’t get done, I am enough.’
So I ponder this: why the rush? Who put a stick up my ass and why am I so frantic in my labors. Is it my background, my training, my experience or is it another example of me not being nice to myself? What am I trying to prove and to whom? Perhaps to myself that I can still cut it as an able-bodied self-sufficient, gung ho gunslinger who can tackle anything that she puts her mind to. Well, yes, I can but there is a cost and that cost is in energy and motivation post lockdown labor of love number 75.
We all need to be kinder to ourselves, to take a gentler approach to our lives and our bodies. Who am I kidding, let’s bring this home, I need to be kinder to myself and take a kinder approach to my life and body. I have taken a serious look at my mindset and given it a good old tweak. I am remembering that all I need to do is whatever is in front of me. It’s about not multi-tasking, not thinking of the dinner while washing up the breakfast dishes, not writing this blog while boiling the spuds, not doing an online course while busting out some yoga moves. My new motto, do only what I am doing now. If I am driving the car and my mind is in next week, I look at my hands on the wheel and say ‘my hands are on the wheel, I am driving the car, I am sitting in my seat, I am here and it is now. It’s a practice, it will take time and I’m sure I will slip like Nancy Kerrigan after her knee was bashed, but like all new practices, perseverance is key. I am looking forward to my newfound life of less stress, cause let’s face it why put ourselves under such pressure when there are no saber-tooth tigers chasing us and no calamities about to happen and if we don’t achieve completion for today then there is always tomorrow.
Wellness tips
Some yoga moves to help with back and neck pain.
- Ear to shoulder/neck rolls
- Seated Forward bend
- Cross Body shoulder Stretch
- Cat/Cow Stretch
- Hand clasped Behind Back
- Warrior 11 Pose
- Standing Forward Bend
Crystals for slowing the mind
Smoky Quartz
Danburite
Rhodonite
Fuchsite
Blue Fluorite
Celestite
Green Aventurine is lovely to plant in the soil. It brings the energy of vitality, renewal, and growth to your garden. Green Calcite is another crystal that is said to usher in a bountiful garden. It is great for the spirit and it is said to relieve anxiety or stress about the future, allowing yourself to live in the present moment instead. Program your clear quartz stones to hold an intention for your garden and yourself. Hold them in your hands and say ‘ I program these stones to hold the energy of calmness and stillness. I am living in the present moment.
Remember it’s ok to ask for help….especially when loading two tonnes of stones by yourself!!!!
Lastly…buy a gnome…how can you not smile when you look at this guy!!
