December is always the shortest month of the year. It lasts about two days.
That's how it feels for me. Never enough time for anything. Not enough time to design and send holiday cards. To go to our local treelighting festivities or the holiday train that comes through our town (missed all that this year). Nor to get this newsletter out on time (but here it is, finally!)
And then you stop and say, wait a minute. Is that all there is to life? A to-do list? All this productivity we're supposed to engage in, all the time?
I work non stop, even if it's work I love doing. Clients. Publishing. Art exhibits.
A new poetry experiment. And all the behind-the-scenes work that takes. Not to mention the domestic side of life, which takes up so much time but no one ever really talks about. Or, perhaps most critically, keeping up with the continued onslaught of news (mostly negative, and that's an understatement. More on that next month—I promise it won't be an "existential crisis" Musing).
I do let myself get distracted. The most recent distraction came in the form of an article about Einstein.
This one. It stopped me in my overproductive tracks.
Because it's about solitude. Not loneliness. Solitude. That quiet reflective time many of us probably wish we had, deep down. That time and space that we need to be able to think, daydream, solve problems, draw insights, and ultimately, make decisions. If you're on a treadmill, you literally can't think. There's a different process that takes place in your brain when you're not apparently "doing" anything.
Apparently a lot more than when you
are doing something. That "lot more" seems to include
being more sociable.
Ah the irony of the human mind.
Being more sociable is what we need. More connected. More face-to-face time. More real conversations. And a little more quiet, non productive time.
I'm looking forward to having a little downtime, finally. And I hope you do too.
Have a blessed holiday.
~ Birgitte
