Time: a ticking bomb or elastic possibility?
/Welcome to 2015! I hope it will be a year of positive development for everyone!
To get off on the right foot I’d like to share 2 resources with you. Follow the link below to listen to a thought-provoking interview from one of my favorites: Michael Bungay Stanier. I love Michael’s down to earth approach to sharing people and material that can make a difference for me and my clients. Follow him. You may find yourself inspired and motivated.
And then there is the interview. Brigid Schulte, an award-winning journalist with the Washington Post speaking about her new book ‘Overwhelmed: work, love and play when no one has the time.’
Why this subject? Why now?
- Because so many people I work with seem to be suffering from overwhelm
- Because there is something special about the beginning of a new year, which leads us to consider doing things differently
- Because beginnings foster the hope of reaching something we really want
And many of us really want to feel more like we’re living our lives and not just checking off our ‘to-do’ lists.
Regenerating our Creativity
In the interview Brigid describes the conclusions coming from recent neuroscience research which underlines the importance of downtime; leisure, play, mindless bodily movement like walking, to allow the brain to process experience and learning. It is the connections which are built precisely when we’re not trying to think or reason, which seem to be the source of our creativity.
Brigid touches on another concept which intersects with a strong area of interest to me, and that is the notion of time. I work with time from the angle of intercultural dimensions as well as from the angle of visualization; our ability to visualize and there by create the space for new outcomes.
Do you feel that time is abundant? Or do you tend to see time as something there is never enough of? Are you beating the clock, chasing time, trying to get ahead? Or do you feel the expansiveness of the moment you’re in? Do you live the here and now? Are you stuck in the past or always focused on the future?
Building a resourceful relationship with Time
By validating that right now is the only time we actually have, by sensing the breadth and depth of the time we’re living right now, we can shift how we experience time itself.
Can you see yourself driving serenely to the train station, finding just the right parking space, having just the right change to buy your parking ticket, and arriving at your train calmly as it pulls into the station? Or are you stressed out about missing it?
When we can visualize the first scenario, we change the quality of the experience itself. The ride to the station is totally different. It’s like an empowerment to live life as it comes with intention and clarity. On top of time and not in fear of missing the proverbial boat.
While the notion of an understanding of time as being abundant has been defined as a cultural dimension I believe it is a mindset which can be cultivated and can serve us all to live in a more mindful way, shifting what we choose to do as much as who we choose to be; how we choose to experience what is going on.
So what can I do about it??
At one point in the interview Michael asks whether the tipping point is systemic or individual and Brigid points to the importance of the leaders in a system to show the way, integrating ‘downtime’ for collective restoration. For me this applies to both aspects mentioned here: taking time for leisure as well as building a mindset of the abundance of time.
Now think about what the possibilities could be if we all moved in this direction? Each one of us can add our voice to the conversation. We can put these ideas on the table. We can imagine, visualize if you will, what it could be like if we all decided to build a better, more resourceful relationship with time.
What would that look like for you?
Meet Michael and Brigid and listen to the interview here:
http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/2015/01/overwhelmed-overconnected-overstretched-how-to-deal/
