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Last weekend I visited a friend I haven’t seen in three years. I also tried to relax. I found my fair share of nourishment in weighted piano keys, buttery castelvetrano olives, several slices of pizza, linen sheets and overrated television programs that ought not be nominated for so many Emmys. It’s been a while since I’ve actually felt a sense of respite without it feeling bookended by a catapult like transition back into “regular life”. Admittedly this trip was no different, but it got me thinking about transitions. I talk about this in class a lot. How we often breeze through transitions. They can feel fast and we move through them without much notice. It’s like they dissolve away before we even witness them. Part of what I appreciate about contemplative practices is they invite our awareness to the spaces in between. By nature of drawing our attention towards the present we give ourselves the opportunity to notice not only each moment, but the transition from each moment to the next. The space between thoughts, between the inhalation and the exhalation, or the shift from one sensation to another. In the absence of rush is simply being. A waking up to what is. I know this is easier said than done. In the slowing down we are faced with the opportunity to acknowledge and be with what we are experiencing in the present. Sometimes in those moments I discover fatigue I’ve been trying to outrun. Physical aches I haven’t tended to or even fully acknowledged. Or I’m finally face to face with the steady stream of anxiety lingering beneath the surface likely fueled by taking in too much information. Too much scrolling, too many conversations, too much input without the necessary time for digestion. It’s as if I’m catching up with myself. Other times my body settles so quickly it’s as if my entire being is letting out a big sigh. As if my body is saying thank you this is what I’ve been requesting. And I’m offered the reminder that it’s okay to put things down for a while. It’s okay to find respite and settle into it. It's okay to receive the support I need in order to do so.
It makes sense if slowing down feels uncomfortable from time to time. We don’t always feel encouraged to do so, nor do we always feel comfort in receiving support that is offered to us. Remember it doesn’t need to be grand and extravagant. Sometimes it can simply be in noticing the transitions. Inviting your attention towards them, and slowing down enough to be with the moments in between. Offering yourself space to digest what just occurred before what comes next.
One of my grandest hopes is for each of us to have the support we need to feel rested and nourished. To become intimately familiar with safe spaces to land and experience respite. While it may not be reasonable to expect we’ll experience this as our constant state of being, perhaps we can invite a bit of it into our every day and support the folks around us in experiencing the same. What might it be like to notice the transitions? To slow down enough and offer yourself the opportunity to be in them? To be with what is. In prioritizing this noticing we offer ourselves and the folks we are in relationship with the important reminder that it is okay to put things down for a while. It’s okay to slow down and notice, the world will keep spinning and you don’t always need to be in constant motion with it. As we transition into the latter part of summer I am sending you so much care and encouragement. May you offer your attention to the transitions and slow down in the places you need it most.
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