2022 Reflections and “non-doing”
I feel like I was in the middle of a storm for the last couple of months, and now I see clear skies and calmness. I spent 10 days in my home country, reconnected with my family, got stressed about Brazilian bureaucracy, had some fun, organized paperwork and got back to Canada, a place I recognize as home now. Fall is my favorite season, so I was back in time to see leaves falling, the orange hues of dusk and cool days.
I’m ready for winter. I’ve accomplished a lot this year already, so I just want to chill. I’ve had challenges and good stuff happening, and I’m grateful for all of them. After all, we are what we do every day. I can highlight a few things:
- It was our first year as homeowners: the joys of shoveling snow from our driveway during winter and worrying about squirrels in the attic.
- Enjoyed all the trails and bike paths around my neighborhood.
- Me and my partner are Canadian Citizens now!
- I completed an important step of a professional designation I’ve been working towards for the past 4 years.
- My dad passed away and I now see that as a good life lesson in awareness of our mortality. It was tough in the beginning, but I used mindfulness to acknowledge it and accept it.
- I visited my family in Brazil, and I feel that closed off nicely this year’s cycle of goals, challenges and joys.
So, for the rest of this year, I want to reconnect with my writing and hobbies, enjoy winter, and remember to practice “non-doing”. I read about this in the book “Wherever you go, there you are”. It has nothing to do with being lazy:
“Non-doing simply means letting things be and allowing them to unfold in their own way.” ― Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
The author also mentions that any meditation practice is a form of “non-doing” in which we are able to step away from the busyness of our lives and to “contemplate, to make time for being, for purposefully not doing anything.”
I will choose only a couple projects I want to focus on this winter and put the rest away for the spring. I will focus on activities that are relaxing and help me wind down, such as: yoga, meditation, reading, long walks, calm mornings, journaling.
⛄ I wish all a cozy winter (for all you folks in northern hemisphere)! And a happy summer, if you are in the southern portion of the globe.
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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.