Today I am home from a deeply meaningful and intensely powerful conference in Albuquerque that was hosted by the Center for Action and Contemplation . Over the course of the event we were challenged by Father Richard Rohr, Reverend Jacquie Lewis, and John Dominic Crossan, to think deeply, and fiercely interrogate new ideas along with our own resistance to them. The time was a combination of teaching, intimate conversations, group practices, and collective contemplative prayer sits. It was inspiring, invigorating, and today, I am exhausted. Spent. Out of gas. My emotional energy tank is most decidedly empty, except for the hefty portion of grouchy and irritable that are sloshing around and occasionally spilling over every now and then on my husband.
The thing is, I came home to a big list of things that need to get done in short order, and all of those things on my list matter to me. Doing them well matters to me. Doing them in a way that reflects the kind of person I want to be matters to me.
Today however was not the day to tackle such things. Today was a day to unpack my suitcase, throw the frisbee to Gracie-the-chocolate-labradoodle, sort the mail, take lots of deep breaths, apologize to Tom for my sharp responses, and extend as much gentle grace to myself as I can manage.
Knowing when to do what can make all the difference in my day, the results of my efforts, and my emotional wellbeing, not to mention in how I treat those around me.
Learning to recognize when it’s time to get ready for an upcoming event, have an important conversation, or take a deep dive into an emotional minefield of a project…and when it would be better to curl up and take a nap is a skill worth cultivating.
