You have to love life’s sense of humour. Rather taken with the idea of giving up busyness for Lent (www.notbusy.co.uk; @TimeWisdom), and even more taken by giving up busyness in general, I managed a few days of being more than simply doing. After 48 hours I admit I became somewhat insouciant, as if perhaps I’d casually made a permanent shift. The discovery of its impermanence in no way dimmed my joy in it, so I will regard myself as non-work in progress. To have the privilege of choice but deny it would be tragic.
So, what of life’s comedy? Well, with children delivered to school on World Book Day (Hurrah for www.worldbookday.com), complete with paper plates decorated in honour of Billionaire Boy (Bumfresh Purple Bottom Nightmare!) and Captain Underpants (Tra-La-Laaaaa), wearing costumes that in one case was a shoulder-to-knee wardrobe (The Lion The Witch And) crafted with great dedication by Child 1, and with costumes almost sorted out for an imminent dance show and a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I thought I might have a moment to upload documents needed for my PhD application.
Oddly, what I didn’t think was that I might have a moment to appreciate the moments.
However, overwhelmed by Book Day glow I had forgotten the packed lunches. Therefore it was on my way back from the hurriedly repeated school run, wearing clogs despite the rain, and without my phone, that the car broke down, on a country lane.
So, I had many moments at my disposal. I met a lovely lady from a farm cottage that I’d previously only passed in transit, and discovered from the recovery guy and the garage guy that me and my car are of the same stuff: sporadic refusal of busyness. Apparently many cars are similarly inclined.
>March is not going to find me having less to do. It contains an astonishing variety of commitments, all of them individually welcome. Life is going to continually burst forth in its many forms with the wild abandon we should reasonably expect of Spring.
Given the extreme unlikeliness of an unbusy body, especially with a family like mine, I shall instead attempt an unbusy state of mind. It’s practically a chemical process, which I may describe in a future blog because I watched it happen one day some months ago.In the meantime, thanks to my colleague, coach and generally sorted bloke Dave Clinton for the words he has on his email sign-off:
"The feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time. It is on the contrary born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life. When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else - we are the busiest people in the world."
PS: it was International Women’s Day when I finished this. My days seem typical of many women I know, and rather less typical of many women I know about. In line with my children’s plate choices, did you know you could twin your toilet? (http://www.toilettwinning.org; other useful causes also available).
