Checking in to know how we truly are (3 min read)
How are you?
My stepmom, once upon a time, told me that you should always know how your partner is each and every day. I took that to heart and over time opened my mind to include all the people in my innermost circle. Not only does it feel loving, it anchors me to my relationships and holds me accountable.
When I have the presence of mind to listen deeply, I ask. That doesn’t happen daily, but before I go to sleep I do my best to think through the last 24 hours and see where I could do better, intending to prioritize that for tomorrow. It’s a habit I was taught in recovery. For those that have had the opportunity to move through any twelve-step group, we learn that it’s a program of meditation and reflection. We are taught to appreciate the power of twenty-four hours at a time, of having our head where our feet are, and of taking a daily inventory to check our behavior and spiritual fitness. Thankfully, these daily practices became habit.
I talk a lot about the inner calling, listening to the voice within that calls from the future and compels us forward. To hear the inner calling, I have to know how I am because the feelings and needs I have are the feedback to take the next right step. And this last few weeks, I’m not sure that I know what that is. I fell out of balance and it shows up as exhaustion, anxiety, overwhelm, and overthinking. As I write, I know I need to go back to the practice of putting my hands on my heart and asking. What are you feeling? What are you needing? And I need to put myself in the right headspace to listen and abide.
This week, my intention is to get back in balance. I do that by getting into my body through dance, movement, nutrition and rest. I have to know how I am, so I can be present to know how you are. And I want to.
And so dear readers, I invite us all to take a deep, slow breath and hit the great big pause button. Someone dear to me always whispers a wonderful bit of Latin, caesura, in these moments to remind us to take a beat, to put our head where our feet are, and to notice the world exactly as it is for this moment. Sometimes even twenty-four hours is long.
