Putting the ‘Be’ back in Busy

“Busy as a bee” we sometimes say. For me, this has always had a delightful connotation – a bumblebee buzzing around outside all day, doing important work, and coming home to make a sweet treat. Sounds like a great gig!

Unfortunately for many of us, these days there’s nothing delightful about the busyness in our lives. We live in a time of immediacy, multi-tasking, and over-scheduling. This has us bouncing frantically from one ‘flower’ to another - managing the multiple and conflicting demands of work, child and elder care, and ‘life administration’, to name a few. We have very little time or capacity to stop and smell the roses as it were - to slow down and think about our own needs and health.

Over time the physical state that goes along with this chaotic busyness - when your nervous system is continually up-regulated – starts to feel normal. It’s not. Nor is it healthy. And while most of us know this, it can be hard to remember, or even believe, that it’s possible to slow down.

I believe the first step in breaking this cycle is to start to remember what it feels like to not be in this frantic space. Taking the time to deliberately pause and focus for a few minutes on your breathing. I like to call this “putting the ‘be’ back in busy”. Taking that moment in your busyness to be still. Be quiet. Be calm. Be. After all, isn’t that why we’re all here? I don’t think they call us human ‘be-ings’ for nothing!

Today I invite you to see where you can put a few minutes of be-ing through breathing into your busyness. And to notice how that feels in your body and mind, so that you can start to recognize the difference. A small step for sure, but it might help you in finding your way to be, and not to bee 😊