Skip to main content

New concept - free(ish) time

When I made the decision to go back to school, life changed, as we might expect.

What had been busy became ultra scheduled. What had been intense took on a whole new meaning within a medical education.

Priorities shifted.

I had no idea how much free time I had before I went to school. That time evaporated within 15 minutes of crossing into the halls of medical focus.

Flash forward to graduation, board exams, the scramble of early practice building, the commute involved with working two clinics, the endless focus on defining my practice, filling my schedule, etc. Not much free time there, either.

Then there was an engagement, followed by planning and prep and wedding focus. That didn't take tons of physical time, but, as I'm learning, the emotional/intellectual prep for such an event is significant.

And now it's done. It's over. The newlyweds are back home, settling into life as a married couple. We are adjusting to Life After.

Days are no longer filled with wedding prep. My practice is slowly building, and while I'm busy with that, we've built some self-care time into our weekly schedules, understanding the whole marathon vs a sprint idea applies very much to us right now.

So what, then does a person like me do to enjoy open time when it presents?

Dust off the spiritual tomes. Tolle, Zen study, etc., have emerged once more, and provide renewed focus and food for development.

Read for pleasure. I am a voracious reader, and am now open to rereading favorites or diving more deeply into favorite authors' repetoires.

Move my body. More regularly, in some sort of organized fashion,with an eye to slimming a bit, tightening a bit, and gaining a stronger sense of physical self at this juncture.

Embroider. Finish the pillowcases I started stitching several years ago.

Weave. Feeling the need to explore a skill I learned as a child. I love working with yarns, with colors, with texture.

Learn to just be. Not necessarily in frenetic motion, just be. This may be the biggest challenge.

Turns out I am hellaciously efficient at juggling, and I mostly suck at just....being.

Thinking about this has also pointed out to me that by relinquishing self-care (emotional, physical, spiritual) as a first response to stress or new goals...I demonstrated that those things weren't high enough on my priority list in the first place.

So it seems I have some work to do, priority setting among the tasks.

 Huge hugs, and enjoy the weekend!

 Stevie

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dang it's hot

It has decided to be summer now, after weeks of fluctuating between cool and cooler.... The A/C is on high. I am trying to study, but really don't want to ...due to a general weightiness that has settled over me, no doubt the heat is just slowing me down for the moment. So, instead of pressing through and forcing myself to do something I don't really have the energy to do right now I am honoring my state of mind and just relaxing a little.... I have begun serious study for my BioMed exam, and reviewing the material is making me realize that I have in fact learned a great deal during my journey through this program, but more importantly is I have begun to look at things, all things, differently.  I am not sure when it began, the shift to this new view, but it has taken hold and infuses my being with an appreciation for the beauty and complexity of life, of the human body, of the human condition, of the universe in general. I have learned facts and data, I have examined ca...
Post a Comment
Read more

The choices we make, make us who we are, don't they?

W. H. Auden once said: Choice of attention—to pay attention to this and ignore that—is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day that we often forget that every single choice that we make, particularly when it comes to how we live, not just the little niggling details, really matters. Every single one. I guess it boils down to limited resources, right? There are a finite number of moments in each day, and most of us are obligated to spend a considerable number of those pursuing our careers, making ends meet, etc., which means that the number available for spiritual and emotional nurturing are limited, indeed. So demonstrating our love for our families, taking good care of ourselves-nutritionally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, in the moments we actually have for those pursuits? Makes absolute sense. And growing our hearts and enriching our spirits through whatever means we choose, be it spending more ...
Post a Comment
Read more

On Mondays. And lots of rules.

Mondays can be a challenge. There's the whole shock to the system of waking up and realizing it's not the weekend anymore, which kind of blows. And then the jolt out of the lazy flow of the weekend into the time-focused 'gotta be at the office by x time, gotta get ready for the company meeting, gotta check emails/deadlines to ensure nothing is on fire' stuff. And then the reality of settling into the week...and knowing that this one will be a full one. They all seem to be. This week for me: Work. Lots of good stuff going on, but 'lots' being the watchword. School. 2nd trimester starts. Tomorrow a.m. So tomorrow for me is school, 9-12; work 1230-430; clinic 5-9. Long day, Tuesday. For this I've washed and pressed my lab coat, cleaned out my tote (it is truly amazing what collects during a trimester in terms of used kleenexes, abandoned index cards, folded notes that were important at some point but now are just extra weight, stale snacks, etc.), and ...
Post a Comment
Read more