A Little Spring Break Retreat

Spring break is here and we have a couple of days off from grandchildcare, as the family is going camping. Today I will revel in a spring day to putter around the house with nothing scheduled (while I also miss the kids!)

Today I am finding ways to celebrate spring - making art, spending time in the garden, buying new (for me) spring clothes and walking shoes, experimenting with homemade yogurt, and making an upgraded sand pit for the kids.  

Agenda:

1. Read "The 5 Resets"
2. Action plan

1. Read "The 5 Resets":

For Lent, I'm reading "The 5 Resets: Rewire Your Brain and Body for Less Stress and More Resilience" (2024), by Aditi Nerurkar. My goal is to get wiser, stronger, and more adaptable.

I've been working at the first reset - to Get Clear on What Matters Most. I set some realistic goals, and made a realistic plan - By Easter I will adopt many healthy choices for snacks and meals without processed food, and be less addicted to easy carbs; integrate most if not all of the Emotional Balance Workbook exercises into my everyday life, and feel more emotionally grounded, aware, and regulated; and complete at least three art projects of some kind; and I will add daily joyful activities into my life.

The second reset is to Find Quiet in a Noisy World. She spends several pages discussing smartphone and screen time addiction: Digital noise causes us stress. And we give away too much precious attention to screens, considering that attention is not an infinite resource. My brain gets exhausted even when it's just TV I'm filling it with. She suggests I create boundaries around my valuable attention bandwidth.

My phone addiction is games, and I have noticed that if I play games right before bed or a nap, I definitely sleep differently, with images of the game playing in my dreams. She suggests a 20-minute time limit, twice a day, and to find another activity to replace games; I've also instituted a buffer of one hour before my planned sleep time.

2. Action plan:

Today I'm thinking about clarity of purpose. I had a moment over the weekend when I Lost It: I felt bereft, impatient, and unhinged. I am challenged to do something more, and I could not think what my leading to action might be.

Then someone read a quote from Thick Nhat Han (not this one, but similar) "And if you know the art of being peace, of being silent, then you have the ground for every action, because the ground for action is to be. And the quality of being determines the quality of doing. Action must be based on non-action."

And another Friend reminded me that she values my writing. I'm drawn to action for trees, so I will start with writing about forests and protecting them, and see where it leads me. And I'll continue with art and banner-making as well.  

Actions this week to give me purpose:

• Find a tree in the neighborhood to visit and be silent with.
• Research a forest blog post, and make an outline (and perhaps find a local community of tree protectors?).
• Cut and sew my One Earth banner, and finish the bottom section.
• Take a field trip to paint butterfly banners with other activists.