Doing AND Being AND Clocks

The clock is ticking! Oh my goodness....I have a to-do list a mile long and all I want to do is sit and ramble. What is it about to-do lists that makes me suddenly feel all contemplative and reflective? And what is it about centering prayer that makes me think of all the things I have to do? Hahaha! I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the brain. 

I feel old and outdated and cliche and boring saying it but it keeps happening. Time is flying! It is zipping by! It just keeps going faster and faster. Or is it that I am going slower and slower? Either way, it seems to be a perception thing. Some days I really would like to have nice long cup of tea with Einstein and see if he can straighten me out on this whole time/space continuum thing.

It's all a bit silly really. In my 30's and 40's, I wondered what I would do with all my time once I didn't have my children to raise anymore. I was a full-time, stay-at-home mom for two decades. I didn't sit down for lunch most of those years. And I had a thin body to prove it! I swear, I never did finish all those chores. So I remember wondering if there was life past all that busyness. What a silly question! 

Of course there is more! The better question would have been to ask when I was going to slow down. My younger self would be quite surprised to hear all that I am involved with now. In a way it's a good problem to have really; things to do, people to see, dreams to ponder, life to live. Sometimes we suffer a bit as the clock ticks on while we run in place trying to accomplish. And sometimes we wear our busy-ness as badge, a status symbol. We live in a culture where being a doer, a multi-tasker, gets more respect than the quiet and slow.

Although, I think the pendulum may be swinging the other way. More and more people are practicing mindfulness, meditation, contemplative practices. More and more people are letting go of their overstuffed houses and over-scheduled lives for small, quiet living. 

I've noticed that in the last ten years, I have done a lot more embracing of the quiet and still moments. And after lots of practice  with silent retreats and centering prayer, I find I want both being and doing. I find it makes me happy to get a task and want to work at it. Accomplishing what i set out to do is a great feeling. And having time to reflect multiplies that feeling.

Could it be that we don't need Doing to be any better or worse than Being or vice versa? Could it be that we were created for both stillness AND activity? I'm starting to think so. 

Meanwhile, the clock still ticks.