Easy

Have you ever stopped to notice how often you find yourself ‘working’ on something?

It might be that you’re working on keeping a gratitude journal or working towards one of the New Year’s Resolutions you set at the start of 2022. You might be working on a home renovation, your health or the relationships with those you hold dearest. You might simply be ‘working’ on the stitching before you.

Somehow, we’ve come to believe that ‘working on’ something means that we’re taking it seriously. We’re committed to an outcome and are willing to put in the effort to get there.

‘But what if it could be easy?’

This simple question posed by Ingrid Fetell Lee led her to explore the possibility that there might just be an easier way to ‘work’.

Ingrid came to realise that when we allow things to happen rather than pushing our way through them, when we soften into an experience rather than hardening ourselves to work on it, ‘easy’ can in fact be a conduit to not only joy but also productivity.

Sound easier said than done?!

Ingrid suggests the following ideas to shift our focus from working on what’s before us to easing into it:

Do Less | Is it possible to do less? Maybe you don’t need to do everything that’s before you or maybe some of the things you’re putting your hand to don’t need to be done quite so ‘perfectly’.

Go Slow | Taking your time will allow you to make progress without having to rush toward a result.

Add Music or a Friend | Sometimes adding a component such as music or someone to complete a task with makes it feel lighter.

Embrace Curiosity | Being curious about what’s before us puts us in an exploratory mindset that can relieve the pressure we put on ourselves to perform.

As Ingrid so eloquently reminded us at the end of her piece, ‘there will always be hard things in life, and there will always be things that are worth working for. Let it be easy doesn’t mean drop your standards and settle for less. It doesn’t mean that you never push yourself or rise to a challenge. Rather, it means acknowledging that easy doesn’t mean lazy or weak. It’s not a compromise. It’s a gentle surrender that trades control for presence. By allowing ourselves to participate in an experience without orchestrating it, to let it happen rather than forcing it, we find a more easeful way of being in the world, one that channels our energy in creative new ways.’

We hope that after reading Ingrid’s words, we’ll no longer find ourselves ‘working’ on our time with needle and thread, but rather easing into it. After all, stitching is supposed to be our absolute joy and there are but a few places where work and joy are used synonymously with each other!