delara, interrupted

Fittingly, there is not much coming to mind as I reflect on the first item on the menu of this fabulous diet. My goal for the past week was to incorporate some more "nothing" into my everyday activities. The truth is that because of my current life-flow, I have a LOT of nothing going on during a typical day. In fact, one of the gifts I have received during the last year--despite and perhaps because of our joblessness--is the gift of slowing down. I even drive more slowly these days, which is SO WEIRD for me. Anyone who has ever been in the car while I have driven knows this. But don't worry--I still got ZIP and STYLE when driving the big city streets!!

Slowing down has taught me the value of honoring the natural flow of each day, every season and cycle, and my life as a whole. And in honoring that flow, it is always important for me to have quiet spaces in my day--spaces that comfort me, nurture my soul and help me hear my true (inner) voice. It is often an effort for me to find that space each day because I am by nature quite the extrovert. I have always drawn energy from people around me, but I seem to be swinging toward serious introversion these days because I know how vital that precious "me" space is. I find myself choosing to be alone more frequently, even though I feel very lonely a lot of the time. It is subtle, but I am learning the difference between being alone and feeling lonely.

Embracing the notion of nothing, Beck invites us to find a dedicated block of time (even a small block) each day to put up a "no vacancy" sign, allow our body to vacate, clear our mind, and (basically) find a happy place to inhabit. Each day, I have had time like this, and each day this time has looked slightly different than the previous day's nothing. One day, I went for a walk--without any music or companion. Another day, I sat in meditation for 20 minutes. On yet another day, I cleaned. Yes--it's true. Cleaning is pretty much on par with meditating when it comes to tuning out and allowing my mind to drift into the sweet bliss of nothingness.

I don't know that anything earth-shattering happened for me by paying more attention to the value of nothing in my daily life. It was, actually, a busy week. I did notice that having some time to myself each day kept me connected with my true thoughts--a connection that in the coming weeks is going to be increasingly important for me to have. What I know is that I need to continue incorporating some deliberate "nothing time" into my daily flow in order for me to embrace the next menu item: Truth.