May 19th, 2016
This discussion has come up with so many people lately, I decided I should blog about it. Technology was never meant to speed things up. The intention was to create more time for the important people and activities in our lives by delegating menial, busy work to a machine. However, we did not know how to make the most of this extra time. We didn't spend more time eating meals as a family or reading great books. Instead, we worked longer hours, doubled our workload and multi-tasked. We also moved off the land and created office cubicles.
We can observe the impact of technology on our nutrition. We are less likely to grow our food and roast a meal throughout the day. We are often away from home at the office therefore we are unable to supervise our garden or our roasts. Therefore, we grab fast food or prepared foods on our way home and zap them in our microwaves.
Technology has sped up our lives. We drive through rush hour traffic to get home from our demanding jobs then we shovel mouthfuls of food into our tense bodies before beginning the frenetic activities of the evening: swimming, gymnastics, hockey, soccer, karate, piano etc. By the time we return home, we squeeze in 30 minutes of homework and fall into our beds.
As a mother, I recall being sleep deprived and drinking coffee from the wee hours of the morning onward in order to function throughout the day. That was a very distinct period of my life. However, I see so many people living off coffee, pop or energy drinks. They have meetings, reports, conferences, deadlines etc. All of it is important and, of course, urgent.
Working in long-term care, I witnessed first-hand how nurses who trained because they were compassionate and had great bed-side manners, burnt out over and over again. Why? They spend so much time filling out paper work in order to maintain funding, avoid being labelled as redundant and prevent liability issues that they hardly have time to connect with their residents. Furthermore, when residents come to them for comfort, they must turn them away because they are already overwhelmed with work. This is a surefire way to destroy the spirit of a compassionate human being who would like nothing more than to connect with residents, hear their stories and offer support.
Our relationships are also impacted by technology. We juggle impossible schedules and attempt to find some down time to connect and catch up. However, by the end of our filled and fast-paced days at work, we are often too wrung out to do much of anything. Instead, we sit in front of the television set, have a glass of wine, maybe hold hands and go to bed. Our children are exposed to technology early on as they suck on our cell phones, watch television programs at home and videos in the van while on the road. Their toys speak to them in both official languages and emit loud noises. They are overstimulated from a young age. Each toy makes different sounds and lights up, little is left to the imagination. I don't recall anyone saying: "I'm bored", when I was growing up yet it is so common these days.
What should have been progress has become a trap. We work hard, compete to climb the ladder to the jobs with the biggest pay. Then, we buy stuff as a symbol of our success. In order to keep our stuff and get more, we work harder to make more money. We look forward to our retirement when we will be able to do all those things we have wanted to do but have been too pooped to do in our lives. We take a week off to spend quality time together. Then we realize that we are strangers, that we are all so consumed with our Facebook, e-mails and x-boxes that our holiday is not what we hoped it would be or, we do spend time together and truly enjoy it, only to return to the our busy schedules as soon as the trip ends.
The computers were supposed to serve us. Somewhere along the way, we became confused. We started to treat ourselves like computers. We expected everything to happen faster. We wanted immediate gratification. We crammed our calendars, uploaded piles of information, imagined that we could multitask and do it all without error. The problem is we are not computers. We are human beings. We need more than upgrades and we are meant to last more than three years. We crave connection, belonging, meaning, love, growth and time for reflection and rest. We require physical contact and neither Facebook, Skype, E-mail or Text can fulfill that need.
The pendulum has swung too far. The proof is in the litres of caffeine required to keep up, the amount of alcohol consumed to numb ourselves, the excessive purchases needed to fill our void. The answer is a return to simplicity-growing herbs or a garden, spending time eating meals as a family, communing with nature, bonding with our children, having unscheduled play time, valuing people over money and living our lives now, not in the future. Creating or reviving rituals to celebrate pivotal moments on our life cycles can also infuse our lives with meaning and belonging.
It's time to focus on what matters: family, friends, good food, rest, nature, reflection, growth and love.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Showing posts with label simplicity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label simplicity. Show all posts
Thursday, 19 May 2016
Monday, 15 February 2016
Clutter
February 15th 2015
Today was family day and I enjoyed spending time with my husband and our two amazing daughters. We ate lunch at a restaurant, prepared for our trip to Florida, finished homework, had supper together, made construction paper hockey jerseys for their barbies as well as a fake arena, all fun. Now everyone has gone to bed and I see all the messes around the house. I have a choice, do I go to bed and deal with it in the morning or, do I stay up an hour later and clean this place up?
Clutter isn't just about the baskets of laundry, piles of paper, stacks of pots and pans, mountains of stuffed toys and bundles of shoes you see as you walk through the house. It's the mental fatigue that comes with seeing everything. It's knowing that it can't stay like this. It takes so much energy to walk past the mess day in and day out and transfer it to tomorrow's to-do list because you ran out of time today.
These days we have loads of articles in magazines, entire books even, devoted to managing the clutter or simplifying your life by getting rid of excess. There are professionals who can help to cut through the clutter and organize your chaos. Here are some of the tips I have read about in the past:
1-If you haven't used an item in the course of a year, donate it
2-For items that you only use on special occasions, like Christmas decorations, buy tupperware bins and label them
3-Divide your home into areas according to the activities you do in each room: cook, eat, sleep, shower, work etc and organize your items to reflect each zone of activity
4-Only keep the items you use daily within reach. Find a storage solution for everything else. You use your toaster every day but not your steamer or food processor therefore, they shouldn't be on the counter
5-Make storage part of your decor by using beautiful woven baskets or shelving made out of barn board and old plumbing pipes
If you are feeling stuck in your life, de-cluttering is a great way to get energy flowing again. It can be really hard to think in a cluttered room. When my children were young, we had a toy room on the email floor and, periodically, I would de-clutter the room and remove toys that were not being used. As soon as the toy room was clean, the girls would be so excited to play with their toys. They had less toys but they could see everything.
The same is true at the office. If your desk is covered with piles of paper, you can't find anything, you're embarrassed when others see your space and, you can't get anything done. Sorting all the papers into piles and filing them so they are out of sight is energizing. It feels good to have a clear, organized work surface where everything you need is within reach and everything else has its place.
Sometimes, we just have too much stuff. It is heavy to be surrounded by excess. Making life simple means donating clothing that no longer fits or suits your style, shredding documents that are ten years old, recycling empty bottles of shampoo and body lotion (you know the drawer full of bottles with an inch of liquid at the bottom), discarding pieces of paper with grocery lists etc. On a bigger scale, it can mean downsizing. There is a trend right now with people living in "tiny houses" where they only have space for necessities.
Having less in each room creates a calm, simple, open and relaxing ambiance. When you walk into a de-cluttered room, you feel light and serene, every item has a place and a function. There is room for people. You can rest and enjoy the space because your attention is not distracted by the clutter that needs to be organized.
Moving or breaking up from a long term relationship can be perfect opportunities to de-clutter. It feels so good to lighten the load as you get rid of items you don't like or don't need. De-cluttering is an emotional experience. As you sift through your belongings, you are sure to find old photos or receipts, letters and birthday cards. Letting go of old items can help you make space for new adventures or simply grieve the past.
If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of de-cluttering your home, consider having a de-clutter support group. You can take turns going to each other's homes and undertaking one room at a time. Others are not attached to your things and can help you see that it's time to say goodbye. If a party is not your style, try to work on one space per month (kitchen, living room, bedroom, washroom). Keep a garbage bag in that room for the month. Every time you see something you no longer want or use, toss it into the bag. What is left by the end of the month gets a space assigned to it.
My goal is to de-clutter my home by March Break. Who is with me? Happy de-cluttering!
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Today was family day and I enjoyed spending time with my husband and our two amazing daughters. We ate lunch at a restaurant, prepared for our trip to Florida, finished homework, had supper together, made construction paper hockey jerseys for their barbies as well as a fake arena, all fun. Now everyone has gone to bed and I see all the messes around the house. I have a choice, do I go to bed and deal with it in the morning or, do I stay up an hour later and clean this place up?
Clutter isn't just about the baskets of laundry, piles of paper, stacks of pots and pans, mountains of stuffed toys and bundles of shoes you see as you walk through the house. It's the mental fatigue that comes with seeing everything. It's knowing that it can't stay like this. It takes so much energy to walk past the mess day in and day out and transfer it to tomorrow's to-do list because you ran out of time today.
These days we have loads of articles in magazines, entire books even, devoted to managing the clutter or simplifying your life by getting rid of excess. There are professionals who can help to cut through the clutter and organize your chaos. Here are some of the tips I have read about in the past:
1-If you haven't used an item in the course of a year, donate it
2-For items that you only use on special occasions, like Christmas decorations, buy tupperware bins and label them
3-Divide your home into areas according to the activities you do in each room: cook, eat, sleep, shower, work etc and organize your items to reflect each zone of activity
4-Only keep the items you use daily within reach. Find a storage solution for everything else. You use your toaster every day but not your steamer or food processor therefore, they shouldn't be on the counter
5-Make storage part of your decor by using beautiful woven baskets or shelving made out of barn board and old plumbing pipes
If you are feeling stuck in your life, de-cluttering is a great way to get energy flowing again. It can be really hard to think in a cluttered room. When my children were young, we had a toy room on the email floor and, periodically, I would de-clutter the room and remove toys that were not being used. As soon as the toy room was clean, the girls would be so excited to play with their toys. They had less toys but they could see everything.
The same is true at the office. If your desk is covered with piles of paper, you can't find anything, you're embarrassed when others see your space and, you can't get anything done. Sorting all the papers into piles and filing them so they are out of sight is energizing. It feels good to have a clear, organized work surface where everything you need is within reach and everything else has its place.
Sometimes, we just have too much stuff. It is heavy to be surrounded by excess. Making life simple means donating clothing that no longer fits or suits your style, shredding documents that are ten years old, recycling empty bottles of shampoo and body lotion (you know the drawer full of bottles with an inch of liquid at the bottom), discarding pieces of paper with grocery lists etc. On a bigger scale, it can mean downsizing. There is a trend right now with people living in "tiny houses" where they only have space for necessities.
Having less in each room creates a calm, simple, open and relaxing ambiance. When you walk into a de-cluttered room, you feel light and serene, every item has a place and a function. There is room for people. You can rest and enjoy the space because your attention is not distracted by the clutter that needs to be organized.
Moving or breaking up from a long term relationship can be perfect opportunities to de-clutter. It feels so good to lighten the load as you get rid of items you don't like or don't need. De-cluttering is an emotional experience. As you sift through your belongings, you are sure to find old photos or receipts, letters and birthday cards. Letting go of old items can help you make space for new adventures or simply grieve the past.
If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of de-cluttering your home, consider having a de-clutter support group. You can take turns going to each other's homes and undertaking one room at a time. Others are not attached to your things and can help you see that it's time to say goodbye. If a party is not your style, try to work on one space per month (kitchen, living room, bedroom, washroom). Keep a garbage bag in that room for the month. Every time you see something you no longer want or use, toss it into the bag. What is left by the end of the month gets a space assigned to it.
My goal is to de-clutter my home by March Break. Who is with me? Happy de-cluttering!
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
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