Slowing down

On holidays, no matter what holiday, I always feel that things move slightly slower. Well, maybe I just want things to move more slowly, but I think it's a valid desire. We need to take a bit to breath, actually see what is around us and enjoy all that we have worked so hard to obtain. Our culture pushes us to be continuously busy. Busyness equal productive in our eyes, or at least mine. Other countries have siestas, long lunches, shorter work weeks, more vacation, etc. In america, we try to fit 28 hours of work into 24 and say things like, "I don't really need more than 4 hours of sleep." If we are always moving this fast, how can we enjoy ourselves, our family, our friends, our loved ones?

Today, my family tried to slow down a bit. We did fewer chores and more matchbox car racing. Instead of getting all the laundry done, my husband AND I set up the train track with Jonah together (usually only one of us does this so the other one can be doing something "productive"). We even watched some family television this afternoon (unheard of in our house, as I do not like the TV on during the day) and had a great time commenting on what we were all focused on.

It is hard not to feel worthless when not accomplishing a task, but what we were accomplishing was truly much more important; we were building our relationships with each other. We set aside "things" and put first "people." As I write this, it is astonishing how little I value my time spent just being with someone and rather always evaluate the success of my day on how many "things" I get done. Because really, at the end of it all, its our relationships, not our things that see us through the hard times.

Peace,
Mama Soup