We’re all busy these days and it can feel like we’re all trapped on a never ending treadmill as we move between work and tasks at home. We recognise how important holidays are so the taking of the ritual two weeks in the summer so we can lay next to a pool in a far off land and hope that we can untie all of the knots in our rope that the world tied in there is something that everyone grasps with two hands.
But that should never be all.
The book I’m writing at the moment is filled with monsters and the people fighting back against them in a post invasion world populated with an ever dwindling number of people. To a point, quite a familiar idea, but something I’m keeping bouncing along with that bigger story of conflict is the value of embracing our humanity.
A big example of keeping the old human flame burning is the holiday to lay on a beach and do nothing for two weeks but within the world of constant fighting for survival, holidays are a far off luxury no-one can afford. There’s that constant threat outside the walled towns and villages which means that everyone is always ‘switched on’. No-one gets down time beyond sleep and even that is affected by the limitations of the homes everyone has. Think dormitories rather than single rooms.
So how to relax and unwind?
One of the struggles that we face as people is that we often can’t see the wood for the trees, and our down time from our job gets filled up with jobs at home, with family and friends, with activities that take us away from just ‘being’. We can end up feeling like we don’t have even the slightest piece of our lives to our selves and there can be a spiralling effect where the pressure just builds and builds.
We all need to do everything we can to not forget even the smallest possible chance we can take to look after ourselves. Spending time reading a book, taking a bath, getting a massage, taking a walk, or just letting your mind wander over the vast landscape of your imagination, all of these things can give you the chance to escape from the world we’re in for a short while and have a chance to let our minds decompress. We can have that short time to ourselves where we aren’t expected to do things for anyone, to fit in with convention, to exist inside the pressure.
We all need a little time to ourselves, some chance to look after ourselves against what we’re bashing up against every day. Taking time to ensure that we’re not just stuck on that treadmill is a vital cog in feeding the strength of our humanity.
It’s where we move from existing, to living.
Stay safe all.
Owen Elgie 