it's not enough to be busy

what exactly is going on?

Everyone is busy.

Good, bad, or indifferent, we seem to be a very busy species. Typical conversations you hear or have been a part of, usually start with, “How are you?”, and follow up with “Good, just busy!” A rejoinder then follows: “Oh, me too!” Nervous laughter ensues…

“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. What are you busy about?” -Henry David Thoreau

We’re all so busy but what exactly is fueling this busyness? Why are we all so busy? Why do people compare how busy they are? Does someone win an award for being the busiest? Is the award a plaque or a trophy?

Seriously… what is going on?

Curiosity is fueling my questions here, not judgement. I truly am interested in people and their stories and why they feel the way they feel. I am curious about why everyone is exhausted, tired, overwhelmed, and burnt-out. Seems we’re beyond knackered. We appear to be holding onto life barely, white knuckling it all the way, researching slow living like it’s our job, trying to find a way out of the morass that we seem to be stuck in.

“You are in a beehive, pal. Didn’t you know? We are all busy little bees, full of stings, making honey day and night. Aren’t we, honey?" Bette Davis as Margo Channing in All About Eve

Again, I am really and truly curious. I too, have been on the hamster wheel of busyness and like many, I am desperate to get off. Jump ship. Throw my to-do list out the window. And my phone for that matter. I too, am tired of being busy. Appointments, errands, go here, go there, do this, do that.

I just want to slow it all down. Don’t you?

I am all about being intentional and trying to slow that rushing feeling that seems to accompany modern life. I wonder, did our grandparents rush? Did our great-grandparents? Is technology fueling our need and/or obsession with hurrying?

“If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy” -Corrie ten Boom

I am sharing all of my questions with you dear readers because I do think they are well worth exploring and also, I want more for us as a human race. We only have so much time on Earth, in this life that we are living. Only so much time. The burnout that we all collectively feel and the tiredness and the busyness, well there’s got to be a better way.

I am here for slow and intentional living; I am here for it 100%. But in order to facilitate this, we’ve got to do some digging and find out how we got so busy in the first place. This will look different for everyone because everyone’s lives are rich and beautiful and different in their own way. But if you are realizing that your life is too full of “busy” and not full of the things that really and truly matter to you, I encourage you to have a think about your situation. Get outside and take a walk and just let your thoughts come up unbidden and see what you make of it. Journal or write things down, if that’s your thing. See if there are any tiny steps you can take to adjust your level of busyness and bring into your life more space and room to breathe a bit.

Again, this looks different for everyone. But I will be taking my own advice here as well. I want to figure out how to be more intentional in my own life and see what changes that I need to personally make.

Hamster wheels are cute for hamsters, but not for me.

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Tell me in the comments! How do you craft an intentional life? Do you have any tips to share for slow living?