Re-entry

For many of us who had the opportunity to take a break over the “holiday season,” the re-entry into the maddening pace can be a bit shocking, especially if we gave ourselves the break we really needed. Did you unplug? Did you let go? Rest?

For me, the week was spent in the quiet surroundings of a cabin in the woods; spending time every day outside experiencing a true Garrett County winter. There’s something more than invigorating about being outside in single digit weather, filling bird feeders, bringing up wood and breaking track in the new fallen snow. Time was spent making meals with family and friends, reading True Compass, by Senator Ted Kennedy. Writing. Embracing the solitude. Letting the day have its own fullness. Getting a lot of sleep.

Dr. Ester Buchholz was a pioneer in researching the benefits of solitude and has been often quoted about its value: “Others inspire us, information feeds us, practice improves our performance, but we need quiet time to figure things out, to emerge with new discoveries, to unearth original answers.”

Wayne Muller in Sabbath, reminds us “that the world aches for the generosity of well-rested people.” He goes on to suggest that:

“A ‘successful life’ has become a violent enterprise. We make war on our own bodies, pushing them beyond their limits; war on our children, because we cannot find enough time to be with them when they are hurt and afraid, and need our company; war on our spirit, because we are too preoccupied to listen to the quiet voices that seek to nourish and refresh us; war on our communities, because we are fearfully protecting what we have, and do not feel safe enough to be kind and generous; war on the earth, because we cannot take the time to place our feet on the ground and allow it to feed us, to taste its blessings and give thanks.”

Muller speaks of his own experience sitting on dozens of boards and commissions with people who, as he surmises, because they are so tired, overwhelmed and overworked they lack the time and the capacity to “listen to the deeper voices that speak to the essence of the problems before them.” The result is a quick fix which provides “the seed of a new problem.”

So, perhaps, we should be grateful that Congress is taking a break. We can always hope that the time away will bring the wisdom and wake up call needed to get a climate and energy bill passed by Earth Day, 2010 that takes care of the essence of our economic and environmental problems.

And perhaps even Arianna Huffington and Cindi Leive will decide that their one month resolution to get enough sleep will become a life time resolution.