Taking time out in the natural world helps our creative vision. Photo: Bernadette Curtin
Local Byron Shire artist Bernadette Curtin has found that creating space helps her cope with her busy world – and even slows her down so she can find time to appreciate the world around her.
We live in a fast-paced world and many of us are learning and discovering new ways of communicating and expressing ourselves, such as via Facetime, Fuze, Skype, Twitter, emails, blogs and social media.
These new ways of communicating can be challenging, and I think often many of us feel overwhelmed with all that is on offer – feeling left behind if we are not keeping up, interacting, or having a presence in cyber-world. But it’s not easy to keep up when we already lead such busy lives – keeping house, working, parenting, socializing, paying bills, exercising, cooking, shopping, driving,
gardening and playing sport, to name just a few.
So how do we support ourselves to stay connected, centered and vital with all this busyness going on?
Making time for ourselves
Making time for ourselves might sound like an impossibility, but if we do set aside time to spend with ourselves, expressing and creating with love, with the intention to nurture our expression, we can discover how truly amazing we really are. For example, giving ourselves permission to write, paint, sew, sculpt, design – simply create, allows us to feel more expansive and playful.
I am currently enjoying making notes on my iPad with a full moon app www.ourcyclesapp.com.au to record how I am feeling and how I have nurtured myself through the day. This simple practice of keeping track and connecting to my body feels very nurturing and restorative.
Is it possible that if we live with too much focus on doing we lose our connection to ourselves and we are not aware of our quality of being in the doing? How would it be if we could allow time to come to us and enjoy sitting on the verandah with a cup of tea, or walking in a natural setting?
My grandmother lived in a different rhythm, where everything got done and nothing was rushed, she honoured everything she did – preparing the Sunday Roast, crocheting, arranging flowers, picking peas from the garden for her delicious soup, writing cards – each task was equally important. For me there is great value in learning to honour our own lives.
Paying attentiont to the details – a rock pool at Woody Head. Photo: Bernadette Curtin
Practicing Presence
Is it possible that when we pay attention to the details – how the shower water feels flowing over our body, which clothes we choose for the day, paying attention to the act of walking – we feel less anxious, and actually get more done and with more clarity and awareness and playfulness?
This practice of awareness for a time may begin as a discipline, when we choose to look deeper and feel what is really going on, how our body is feeling.
When we choose to be present and playful and light, the day unfolds like magic. We feel more spaciousness in our body and find that there is more space in our day.
Artist Bernadette Curtin lives just outside Mullumbimby and is also a painter and tutor in creative expression. Website: www.bernadettecurtin.com <https://www.bernadettecurtin.com>
I love this article, it is very inspiring and I love how you look after yourself with the Our Cycles App. I know as women, we tend to put ourselves last in the list of who needs to be looked after, so having a simple app that supports us to do that would be amazing!
Thanks for a great article.
You are right about putting ourselves last Ariana, what are your favourite moments?
I love how you reflect back on how your grandmother held herself with every task at hand, each one just as important as the other. I have just been experimenting with knitting & crocheting, something I learnt to do as a child. Instead of using this time to check out or as something to do to relieve the boredom I have been playing with using this time to feel myself in my body and practice being present with the actual task, one loop at a time. It also is a great opportunity to listen to my body and stop when it has had enough
A beautiful article that asks us all to stop and take a moment, even to just be present reading the article and nothing else.
There is so much distraction around us, that it only aids to a lack of presence and stillness.
Just reading and reflecting on this article gave me time and space to just be.
Thank you
This is a lovely reflection Bernadette, and I love this phrase,
“When we choose to be present and playful and light, the day unfolds like magic. We feel more spaciousness in our body and find that there is more space in our day.”
I have to agree, as I have often gotten caught in thinking there isnt enough time but when I make the conscious choice to make space, the whole world, day and time seem to expand, which is magic as you say. A lovely reminder
Thank you
Bernadette thank you for your amazing article in reminding us that we are choosing the doing and not truly stopping and allowing ourselves to feel what is truly going on in our bodies and life.
We seem to all get caught up in the doing and completing everything each day all day that we have totally forgotten how to live in simplicity of allowing ourselves the moment to just be and get things done in our rhythm and presence and truly love what we do.
A great reflection for me is that stillness is the greatest form of harmony with oneself and we can enjoy not only ourselves but everything around us if we only took the time to just be.
Thank you for your beautifully spacious article Bernadette. What I take away from it is that “It is all in the attitude (or conscious presence, as some might call it.) The list of things you’ve suggested as a means of feeling expansive and playful — “For example, giving ourselves permission to write, paint, sew, sculpt, design – simply create…” could just become a long list of more things TO DO. But now, with your prompting, I will see if I can firstly use the time to be with me while I’m also doing these things.
Thank you all for your comments – “conscious presence in the doing”, “Just be”, ” choice”,” to stop and take a moment,” “being while doing” – they are all great reminders that we are enough just the way we are!
I connected with your stillness and presence as I read your article Bernadette. Too often we wait to be given permission to take time for ourselves but it really is beneficial to not just ourselves but all those around us too.
Thank you for sharing,
I agree the my cycles app is brilliant, I highly recommend it, I find it a great way to check into me and my body.