No Rush

Can you hear that?!

It turns out that’s the sound of our lives rushing by.

It’s hard to believe that we’re in the final month of the year. After all, wasn’t it just yesterday that we were making plans for all that we wanted to achieve as a new year unfolded before us?!

Maybe it’s just us, but we have a feeling we’re not alone.

It was a recent email from Hannah Brencher that had us wondering what all the rush is really about.

In recent conversations with friends, Hannah’s been unpacking why this season feels more rushed than most. In the US, she’d noticed that Halloween décor came out in early September, Christmas decorations had filled the stores before Thanksgiving had even been considered, and what was once but a single day in November, Black Friday now seemed to fill the entire month.

Hannah came to realise that much of our culture now operates on a fast-paced retail calendar.

But we don’t have to buy into the hustle. We don’t have to feel the pressure to ‘squeeze November into October and December into November’ only to find the new year beginning with stores already giving a nod toward Valentine’s Day and Easter.

Have you felt this too?

Whilst we may not have bought into the commercialism of what’s on offer through retails outlets, we’ve certainly felt the pressure to rush through what’s before us to ensure we’re not missing out on the next thing.

But as Hannah reminded us, we can slow the pace. We can pause. And the more we choose to pause, the more present we become to the moments right in front of us.

Isn’t our time with needle and thread the perfect way to do just that?!

It focuses our attention, slows our minds, and provides respite to all that’s going on around us. It is meditative and calming and is the perfect antidote to the rush so many of us feel.

Hannah closed her email be reminding us that ‘we haven’t missed a thing, it’s all right here and we’re okay to move at our own pace’.

Here’s to each of us finding our ‘pause’ as a busy holiday season unfolds before us…