"Gentle, Gentle" Days Are Key

 

My roommate has been gone this week so my goal was to do a combo of "staycation" activities (so I felt like I was on vacation too LOL) and "spread out" activities since I had the apartment to myself (for example working on writing my holiday etc. cards since I could spread out my cards on pretty much every surface in the apartment and not be in my roommate's way LOL)

I have been going pretty non-stop this week, and yesterday hit a wall and realized that while I still had lots I had wanted to get done this week, that I had accomplished a ton, and needed to take a "gentle, gentle" day before jumping into a busy weekend.

As Wentworth Miller put it in some of his Instagram posts this summer:

gentle, gentle

slow, slow

thoughtful, thoughtful

flow, flow

I find following this advice/wisdom/rhyme has been really helpful and reminds me to take time for "gentle, gentle" days. (Similar to how following Captain Cold's four rules "make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan" is helpful because it turns changes to plans into the plan itself.)

This feels like a good time to practice having multiple things be true at the same time which is a concept being highlighted in some of the communities I am involved with.   

I am not likely to accomplish all I set out to do this week AND I accomplished a lot of things (many I was not originally planning on.) 

I have several things "due" this weekend (Finishing a book for book club on Sunday, getting the main part of the apartment nice and tidy for when my roommate returns) AND I need to be "gentle, gentle" with myself

I know having a clean and organized space can reduce stress AND cleaning and organizing can cause stress so I know by the end of the weekend my space will not be as cleaned and organized as I hoped it would be 

So today I am taking a "gentle, gentle" day. I am going to rest and renew myself. I am going to work on reading and cleaning etc. but in micro chunks (read one chapter, put away 10 items etc.) If you are in the middle of a busy season (or will be in the middle of a busy season which is pretty much everyone come the end of the year lol) make sure you take regular "gentle, gentle" days.