Being busy
How busy are you?
Being busy,
Means you don’t have time to think,
But you do feel important,
and needed,
and sometimes stressed,
and virtous,
which sometimes tips into self-righeous.
Being busy means you achieve a lot,
which makes your ego feel good,
which means you don’t have to think about if you are happy, or living in line with your values.
Being busy
is an addiction,
to avoid the things which hurt us,
which scare us,
which we wish we hadn’t said or done or been.
Being busy gets us approval,
promotions,
pay-rises,
company cars,
pensions…
if we are lucky.
Or heart attacks and breakdowns if we are not.
Being busy is the opium of the masses,
it keeps us consuming, complying,
keeps us swallowing down the vague whisper that there must be more to life than this.
Being busy means we see a lot of our colleagues,
other commuters,
our screens,
but less of our children,
our friends,
our elders.
Being busy means we can think fast, move fast,
but leave our soul out in the cold.
I am often too busy.
You too?
Lockdown stopped the busy- ness and the trees slowed me down to their breathe.
But then term started and we all sped up,
busy, busy, rush, rush, rush.
Back from our first day at school, tea, car, football, car, rush, rush,
garden, bonfire, slowing down.
A call from the house; ‘Mum, there’s a kitten in the house’.
This, a house on 2 busy roads, with a river at the bottom, and 2 dogs in our house and the next 3 houses up the road.
A tabby.
6 weeks old, the vet later said.
Tame, scared, hiding in the aloe vera.
We couldn’t keep it, not with the dogs and an allergy.
And we are too busy.
But the cat thought differently.
No one claimed it.
I fell in love.
The kids fell in love.
The dogs didn’t eat it.
It’s been here since the start of term.
It is a magical cat.
It appeared from nowhere.
At a time when we were speeding up.
It’s gift is to slow me down.
Life moves in mysterious ways.
I sit with it.
We breathe.
It reminds me of what is important.
It enchants me into sharing it’s time.
I slow down.
I don’t read,
or scroll,
or talk,
I just hold it.
That is enough.
Julie Leoni
Coach, author, podcaster, facilitator, Yoga and psychology teacher, learner
I have over 30 years of experience and qualification in various therapeutic and meditation/mindfulness based approaches. I work with change. Some changes we chose, others happen to us. Sometimes we know we want to change but don't know how. Sometimes we don't want to change but external events or people are forcing us to change. The menopause, children leaving home, the end of a relationship or job, becoming a parent, coming out, bereavement are just some of the personal changes I support people with. I also work with people who want to make changes to their life and wider world in response to social issues such as Covid, the climate crisis and racial, sexual and gender inequalities. Times are changing whether we want them to or not and we need to be nimble, agile, curious and open in order to part of the new story emerging. Work with me to get clear on what matters to you, what makes your heart sing and what kind of future you want for yourself and those you love. It is possible to live differently, get in touch to explore how.
