The Ways We Twist Away
By now it's no surprise that I'm interested in (kindly) calling B.S. on myself and my clients when it comes to avoiding inner and outer progress. And lately I've been witnessing, studying, and naming the ways we twist away from life's matters-at-hand.
Some of the more obvious ways we twist away are:
- The insta-scroll, reading the news, Netflix-binging, food, shopping, the "going out" culture, sleeping around, drugs, and drinking.
That said, there are some sneakier ways we avoid certain important moments of life. Ways that could be categorized as even healthy or handy if they didn't always seem to creep up at those perfect moments of procrastination. What do I mean? Here's a peak at my sneaky twist-away list:
- Cleaning the house, over meditating, making an adaptogenic latte or smoothie, walking Theo, calling my hubby or sis or mom, curating the perfect shade of filter and/or share for Instagram, doing too much reading or studying and not enough actual action.
I was struck by this recently when I sat down at the kitchen table to do some writing and popped up about two minutes later to make some tea. Then I sat back down. And within another few minutes I realized I was a teeny tiny bit hungry and I should probably just make myself a little smoothie snack. Then by the time I sat down it was close to Theo's lunch and he was whining. So I thought I should probably feed him and give him a quick post-lunch walk. And oh, didn't I need to order a bunch of dry-goods online too once I got back? And I had another 11-minute meditation I wanted to practice before Taylor got home. And yep. Badda bing badda boom - a few hours of potential work energy had evaporated.
It's not that those "do"s are intrinsically negative or wasteful in nature; in fact most of them are valuable tools for a happy life. But for me personally, on those days I distract myself from actual creative expression or planning for future events, my flavor of avoidance is masked by unnecessarily additive wellness practice.
And I'm quite happy to realize this situation. To see these habits for what they are so I can utilize them with more intention and less auto-pilot zombiehood.
There's a time and a place for twist-away flavors in the cycle of things but as an entrepreneur with a lot of wonderful things on my plate, I need to ensure I am placing my creative work in the world as a main course, and not an amuse bouche or a one-bite-end-of-meal dessert.
So I challenge you today to consider this:
How do you twist away from your work in the world? How can you find the grounded strength to re-focus, re-align, and get going? And why is it important that you do so?
We all have the ways we twist. The email-checking in the elevator, or back of the Uber. The stuffing our faces at the buffet table at the awkward party, or if you're like me, the overdoing it on the wellness rituals at the mercy of expressive output.
Calling B.S. on our own impediments is the first step in releasing them. Shifting our perspective on the ways we utilize a day through a curious witness and re-frame invites our consciousness back home. Pausing between the automatic action through groundedness and a few good deep breaths restores our sovereign decision-making power.
My wish for us all is that we can glide through the chaos of life with more attention, intention, and clarity when it comes to facing things head on. Whether they be creative output, relationship challenges, or unexpected "fires" that can materialize and interrupt quickly.
I'm looking forward to this conscious-release process to find a greater balance in the inner/outer work see-saw.
Should you too be interesting in guidance and accountability on your journey, I look forward to connecting with you via a session, a speaking engagement, or a class below.