Feel your presence
A quick and kind reminder to feed your soul
Hello, friends. You know that feeling where your days are just passing by and you have so much that you need to be doing but can’t seem to understand what exactly it is that you are doing or how the time is passing? It feels as if you’re sleep walking or that you’re in the sea being pushed forward by a wave that you can’t control. Your brain is working yet not really alert.
When you first enter this phase and for a while when you’re in it, you don’t realize that you’re on this autopilot mode. However for a while when your senses start working again and you start being aware of yourself and surroundings, for a bit you feel like you’re engulfed in this dark cloud that you can’t get out of. You’re trying to pull yourself out of it and yet it is very difficult to do that. Until finally, you reach this one day that you’ve gathered enough energy to be able to pull yourself out of it and your brain starts clearing up. The fog subsides, like light entering a dark, misty room after a long time, bringing warmth in.
For a lot of us, this probably sounds a bit too familiar and quite unsettling. We have all at one point or another suffered from burn out because it is quite easy for us to slip into the trap of losing control of our day-to-day amid all the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives.
I have to admit that it’s quite a struggle for me to create this post right now because I feel like my brain is only just recovering from this. I haven’t reached full recovery yet, but I’m trying to get there by slowing down and trying to be more present.
Often times, burn out isn’t caused by work stress as we all like to think. Sure, stress at work can be a contributor but it’s not the main cause. The main cause is simply losing yourself in your every day tasks and not doing something that gives you energy.
There’s a quote out there that says - in some form or another- that humans are essentially plants with complex emotions. And yes, sure, if you water a plant and put it in the sun it might grow, but there are other contributing factors to its thriving. If you talk to it kindly, it’ll grow better. If you play music for it, it’ll thrive. If you pat it clean and be gentle with it, it’ll be bountiful. Humans are essentially the same but because we’re more complex, we might need a bit more effort at times. On some days, a bit of music would actually go a long way, but on other days, we might need a live orchestra to put us out of our misery.
Sadly, I don’t have enough brain power to give you a more elaborate piece of writing but the point I want to bring through to you is this: if you feel like you’re losing your grip and control over your life, start with the simple pleasures. When I was trying to pull myself out of this, I said to myself: I need to find something that I love to do. A dance class or an art class maybe; something that would give me energy. Except, I had no energy to look for something that would give me energy. Until I was scrolling through Instagram one day and found a friend of mine sharing this post:
Now, I’d actually never watched Amelie (I know, quite shocking), but I could instantly relate to that sentiment of “cultivating a taste for small pleasures,” because sometimes that’s all you need. Sometimes all you need is a quiet morning where you’re making a good hearty pot of coffee, smelling the freshly brewed coffee and taking the time to savor it. Or taking a nice walk in the sun while listening to your favorite music - or better even, music that you haven’t listened to in a while or that makes you think of a happy time.
Do something that lights up your soul. Something that makes your heart full, that makes your brain light up and feel that everything will be alright, because it will be. And sometimes starting with the small pleasures and then building those up is the key. Just take a step back, take a deep breath in, and feel the ground underneath your feet. You’re here now. Feel your presence.
Until next time my loves xoxo