Be Still

Hello friends. We have officially entered “I’ll circle back to this after the new year” season. My brain has already begun going into some sort of weird hibernation mode. In fact, I’m fighting sleep as I am typing this post, so it probably won’t be long. 😂

It’s been very quiet in my household as of late. A few weeks ago, the LED panel on my TV went out, and I just uh…haven’t replaced the TV yet. To top it off, I accidentally dropped a weight on my phone, and my screen has a very attractive crack on it, so needless to say the only technology that works correctly right now is the laptop I’m typing this post on. The message for this post is simple: be still.

As someone who is deeply introspective, you would think that I embrace the stillness, and sometimes I do, but oftentimes I appreciate a good distraction. After a long day, I look forward to crashing on the couch with a good meal, one of my many comfort shows and more recently, a weighted blanket (get one, it’ll change your life). Sometimes I’m not even watching whatever is on, but the sound of a human voice is a good distraction from whatever I have going on at the time. Since my TV has been out, I haven’t had that distraction, and I have been forced to sit and deal with some things that I would rather bury in the random sounds of ESPN, or the Food Network.

We live in such a “grind culture” society; where rest is frowned upon, and looking busy is mistaken for productivity. I have definitely fallen victim to this mentality at times, and in the wake of this forced quietness I realized I have been setting an arbitrary bar for myself that I keep moving after every accomplishment. Let’s just be honest, Birmingham is a small city, and it’s easy to get caught up in who is winning what award or who is in the spotlight, especially as a young professional trying to carve my own path. The irony is that this revelation came to me today, just as I’m on the wake of celebrating winning an award myself. I found myself (already) looking for the next achievement. As I type this, I’m realizing that the reason I’m always exhausted is because I don’t sit still. I always seem to find myself in circles with extremely high achievers, which sort of always intimidates me to get my [redacted] together and try to keep up with them. Big mistake.

In nature, all species have a period of rest. Bears hibernate during the winter, certain plants take months before they flower again, caterpillars can spend weeks in a cocoon before they emerge majestically into butterflies. Even before a storm there is a calm period. Sometimes the period of quiet is the miracle itself. I hope you take some time to be still. Take a deep breath, relax your shoulders. Embrace the silence. You never know what could come of it, and if nothing does, that’s ok too.

Love always,

CDOG