REFLECTIVE THOUGHTS FROM SUBSTACK
A little while ago, Corinne, one of my fellow bloggers who moved to Substack, listed seven questions in her post for reflection. As I'm in the middle of my year of choosing "Mindful" as my inspiration, I thought I'd share them here in case others are interested in doing a little deep dive...
WHY ARE QUESTIONS IMPORTANT?
I like the idea of occasionally diving into probing questions - just not too often or it becomes a little too self-absorbed and intense! What I liked about these questions is that they didn't all have to be answered, and they gave me a gentle push to look beyond my very cruisy little life to see if there's anything I'd like to change up a bit in the months ahead.
The thing with retirement is that it's been easy to fall into a quiet routine where my days are very simple and cosy, but I might not be challenging myself as much as I probably should. I like my comfort zone, I like letting one day roll into the next, but when I chose "Mindful" it was so I could be a little more intentional with how my year played out.
THESE ARE THE 7 QUESTIONS FROM CORINNE
She suggests that we take one question, sit with it gently, and let that be enough for today. So, that being the challenge, I'll choose one and share my thoughts and perhaps you'd like to choose one to share in the comments?
- What am I carrying right now that wants to be acknowledged, not fixed?
- Where in my life am I being asked to slow down?
- What has quietly sustained me so far this year?
- What feels heavy and what feels supportive at this point in the year?
- What would it look like to meet the rest of the year with a little more ease?
- What kind of care am I needing most right now?
- What can I release, even slightly, to make more space?
MY RESPONSE TO THE PROMPTS
I feel like I've tackled a couple of these already this year:Number 1 I blogged about in June when I realized that I needed to Be Mindful Of My Social Capacity because it wasn't something to be fixed, just something to be acknowledged.
Number 7 I blogged about in May where I shared 4 Things I Was Letting Go To Make More Space because who I used to be isn't who I am now - and some things needed to go.
So, I think I'll ponder upon Number 3 - "what has sustained me this year?" For me it brings to mind my struggles with fitting into mainstream church culture over the last few years. My connection and commitment seem to have diminished due to some issues that were then compounded when the pandemic hit and we stopped attending for a couple of months. For those who are long-term committed church attenders (or any other regular group attenders), you'd understand why feeling disconnected after many, many years feels disconcerting to say the least...
In thinking about what the last 6 or so months have been like, I'd say that what has sustained my faith journey and helped me find my way has been a combination of a few things.... consistently attending a church I feel more comfortable in (even if it's less often than it used to be), whilst being mindful of my capacity in this context and taking time away when I feel I need it. To balance that, I meet with a couple of other women each week for a time of sharing and learning - their encouragement and support over the last few years has been an absolute blessing - and I know they feel the same way. We're different ages and personalities, but walking a similar path and looking to deepen our faith in a meaningful way.
Adding onto those two more personal approaches has been reading good books and listening to good podcasts - the availability of thought provoking and interesting online content is a life-saver when it comes to wanting to know more and be more - and I'm amazed at the willingness of those who put such valuable content online for no cost for those of us who need it.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Well, I hope that wasn't too deep or off-putting, but as I mentioned, the questions are quite personal and thought-provoking. My faith journey has had some unexpected challenges over the last few years, so looking at what's been positive has been really helpful. I hope something here triggers you to think about what's brewing in your mind and how you might gain some forward momentum.
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