Go-slow Saturday

While browsing recently in a book sale, the title 'Sex for Busy People' caught my eye (as you can imagine it would).  With my nine-year-old standing beside me, it was difficult to flick through the manual (in the interests of this blog post, of course), suffice to say the book promises to 'rescue your sex life in the time it takes to make a cup of tea'.

What if we want it rescued in the time it takes to cook a lamb roast?

Methinks this emphasis on speed and multi-tasking is getting ridiculous.  Is nothing sacred from our obsession with all things instant? 

I'd spent about three hours working on a stress-management seminar that morning and told myself I'd have a cup of green tea and sit outside in the sun for ten minutes as a reward.  After sitting there for what felt like half an hour - basking in the warmth of spring, listening to the birds singing, sipping my tea, thinking 'all's right with the world' etc, I thought it must be time to go in.  I checked my watch and it had only been a minute and a half.

As a result, I'm giving myself a remedial lesson in slowing down.  Today is declared officially 'slow', the highlights of which are:

• Sleep in
• Dag around in PJs (no driving - see previous post)
• Cup of coffee and read the Saturday insert mags from the papers
• Take dog and gripping novel for walk to playground with kids without wearing watch and read for however long it takes them to enjoy the experience without my pointing out that this is yet another 'quick play'
• Scented bath with candles and music after they're in bed, or maybe some long phone calls with friends.

The idea is to 'achieve' precisely nothing.  The less I accomplish the better.  It's about focussing on the moment I'm in, not the string of moments that are about to hit me. 

Albert Einstein  - who, by all accounts, used his time quite well - said this: 'The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once'.

The man was a genius!