Every so often, we may hear a phrase or read a story that captures the essence of what we have been feeling but have not yet been able to find the words for. Today was one of those days.
These past few years in my writing, I have been exploring the concept of "exhaustion" as it relates to our life experiences and in particular, to the pandemic.
Then this morning, I received a newsletter from Chris Fraser, the Founder of Firefly Creative Writing. She writes:
"Many creative projects floated away in the high tide of pandemic stress in the last three years, or got diluted in endless scrolling. This is what survival does. It pares us back to our essentials. It keeps us hypervigilant and therefore tired. It holds us there for as long as it can."
Maybe now is the perfect time to reflect on our tiredness, as we begin to emerge to a new way of being. What are the aspects of our life that we need to let go of, in order to discover a renewed sense of energy? What would we like to hold on to, to cherish and to nurture?
So often, we can become discouraged by our feelings of exhaustion and our lack of energy. But perhaps, instead, we could re-frame our approach. What is our exhaustion revealing to us? What is it that we are needing to change in our life, in order to find a renewed sense of being?
I found myself needing to take a pause in my writing this fall. It was more of a longing for the sound of silence, particularly at a time with so much turmoil in the world.
What the pandemic has also revealed to me, is how much I am someone who likes the feeling of certainty. I like to understand what I am dealing with; I like to know the facts. However, these past few years have been anything but certain. So recently, I began to realize that I need to find a new way to navigate in the world, with so much uncertainty and chaos.
Rather than looking to the outside world for a sense of safety, I needed to find a sense of safety and peace from within. In an earlier blog post, titled "Understanding the Meaning of Our Exhaustion," I wrote that "the answers may not come from our analytical mind. They may come from an intuitive sense of knowing, what we know in our hearts to be true."
So, for me, that means trusting my intuition. I still search for the facts when the need arises. However, I focus just as much time on my inner knowing.
It is in the quiet moments of rest and reflection that I discover, what I know in my heart to be true.
Author’s note: The above quote has been printed with permission from Firefly Creative Writing. To learn more about their work and the workshops that they offer, please visit: www.fireflycreativewriting.com.