Slowing Down - A Course of Study

I am taking up a course of study to think about what it means to slow down and be intentional with my every action. I don't know if it is just me, but I have the tendency to rush everything, from brushing my teeth, to eating my dinner, to washing the dishes, to drinking my evening tea. I always have that lingering sense of all that I still need to do. In my head is my to-do list of the items stacked up. But that leaves me feeling worried about not getting to everything. 

Instead, I want to foster a slowing down, which goes along with my aim to also live more simply, with a less is more attitude (see my last post).

So, by slowing down, this is what I have in mind:

Right now I am sitting at my kitchen table with a pot of loose leaf tea, some biscuits, and a stack of books. I need to finish some prep work for the poetry class I am leading at church this month. I was gone all morning and into the early afternoon at church for a leadership retreat, and I now feel the list of to-do's in my head. Rather than rush around to do everything on my list and feel very scattered, I am choosing to focus on one thing -- enjoying my tea and biscuits whilst typing up this blog post. Sitting here at the table, sipping the steaming tea, taking a bite of biscuit. Thinking about this current musing I am working on. 

Contrast that with what I might normally do. I would bounce around a lot - maybe dusting, then organizing a shelf, then vacuum, then sit down to read a few pages, but then jump up to go check the laundry, and then grab my laptop to open it for a blog post, but then realize I forgot to grab my laundry so I will grab that, fold it, and put it away. While I get some things done, I am very scattered doing it, and my mind is going in many directions that I find it difficult to focus on the meaningful tasks, like prepping for my poetry class, reading for more than a few minutes, or writing this blog post.

I am slowly learning that we are not meant to be multi-taskers. We do not do our best when we try to do several things at once. But only when we give time and focus to the thing at hand are we able to do our best. It requires more of us, sure. It requires discipline to resist doing a few other things that might only take a few minutes, and yet, I have felt more productive in my life by taking the time needed to one task at a time, than by trying to juggle multiple things all at once.

Another side effect of this slowing down is the enjoyment of it.

I want to taste the rose puerh tea that I am drinking (I bought it from a tea shop in Boulder, CO). It transports me to China, even though I've never been to China. It is a black tea with rose petals and a subtle earthy flavour. I love the earthy taste (as my sister-in-law would say, tastes like dirt) as it reminds me of the scent after the rain falls when the earth has just soaked in the fresh droplets and released the most ancient of scents. If I am not sitting here paying attention to each sip I take, I am missing out on the enjoyment of such a precious time, drinking tea. 

This is just an example, but I want each moment to be like this. Where I notice everything - the sight, the scent, the sound, the experience, and the feeling. I am making it my study. The everyday is my set of books. I need to get reading.