our world has gotten too loud.
we all are shouting. the need for our voice to be heard has drowned out the voices next to us. we have forgotten how to listen. we hear the cries for help…but do we take the time to really listen without adding to the upheaval?
our world moves too fast.
from instant messaging to pre-packaged meals to overbooked schedules, we have forgotten how to slow down and stop and notice the world around us. as someone who has battled severe anxiety and panic attacks for the past 4+ years, i have come to realize that i am guilty of both. moving at fast pace. filling my schedule with “the next thing”. i now know it was a way that i protected myself. i chose not to listen to others. to share in their pain, because it would quickly become my own. if i didn’t slow down, settle in the quiet, be present in a moment, that meant i couldn’t hear my own anxious thoughts. moving from one project to another, i kept my mind as busy as i possibly could to drown out the voice in my head and the voices beside to me.
and i couldn’t handle any more pain. any more loneliness. any more hardships,
or quite frankly, any more reasons to celebrate.
my nervous system was completely full. overflowing. i couldn’t handle one more emotion of any kind. and that is not living. only surviving and barely at that.
“the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. i came that they may have life and have it abundantly”
home
my word for the year came unexpected. it wasn’t even on my radar. it came just a few weeks ago…in the middle of another sleepless night. “home”. you see…i have been wanting to run away. literally move somewhere else. i told my husband i would take him with me, but i needed to go. go where no one knew me. where i felt like i could breathe again. away from the painful memories that followed me where ever i went. in his wisdom, he said “running away won’t fix your problems. they will just follow you, no matter where you go.”
so on that sleepless night, i read something, somewhere. “build homes, and plan to stay. plant gardens, and eat of their produce.” jeremiah 29:5. i had never seen that verse before. and at the moment i knew…i wasn’t going to be going anywhere. God was telling the exiles to stay and make a home and prosper. and He was telling me to do the same. but i needed to do it His way. not mine.
also in that same week, i came across a word. hygge. pronounced hoo-ga. i had seen it before, but didn’t fully understand the meaning. there are no english words that translate hygge. it is a danish word that loosely means a quality of coziness or wellbeing. it is about being present in a moment, either by yourself or with friends. think… candles, a home cooked meal, warm socks and blankets, putting down the phone, games. warm drinks, books, journaling and being in nature.
my great grandma came over from denmark, so i was wanting to learn more. danes are some of the happiest people on this earth. and they say its because of hygge. its gratitude. finding the sacred in the simple. slowing down, stopping and enjoying the company of others. living life abundantly. they take time out almost everyday to experience hygge. these are many things that many of us do. we just don’t do them enough. or we don’t appreciate it enough.
i live distracted everyday. as i’m sure some of you do. multi-tasking as we like to call it. but i have learned what stress and anxiety can do to my body. and my mind. and it is not pretty. it is not living the life that Jesus provides abundantly. i would like to use this blog to share some of my favorite things to do. create. and experience that help me live this life to the fullest. i want to live with intention. i’m tired of just surviving.
are you?