I hope you are well and had a good summer break. Sorry for the long absence, I didn't mean
to...
Â
It always takes me by surprise that a long-awaited break doesn't send me into a blissful state immediately as I imagined or, clearly,
romanticised. Every time, there is an unavoidable phase where every aspect of my life seems to unravel. This seems to be a necessary step that creates the transition between busyness and restoration of balance in my body and soul.
Â
After 18 months spent in London, mostly in my home, I went to France for six weeks and felt that most of it turned into a time of
unravelling. I felt discombobulated most of the time. My 18-month stretch in London had shaped a new daily life with its routines and going back to the homeland, to a place where I hadn't experienced the pandemic but where restrictions were multiple was just odd and I had no sense of what "normal" looked or felt like.
Â
A break is always a time to reflect on ourselves, our relationships and our place in the world. We think about what we need and what
we don’t need.
Â
Before we can get to more clarity, we seem to need to unravel in a way that resembles untangling a pile of intertwined necklaces. We
must lay them flat and look at them closely and then we gently pull on this and that. if we get impatient, we make it worse.
Â
Unravelling is as good as a caterpillar turning to liquid mush in the chrysalis before emerging as a beautiful creature with wings.
The process is messy but worth it.
Â
The unravelling happens when we start asking ourselves questions that feel uncomfortable but that are crucial. Any time of year is a
good time to reflect on our life although we tend to do it in transition times such as a break, New Year's Day, September, our birthday, after a  drastic change, etc. If you feel the need to reevaluate your situation now, here is a list of questions to get you started.
- Is my life organized in such a way that I enjoy my time at home and I do the activities that I love
doing?Â
- Am I allowing myself to be who I know I am deep
inside?Â
- Am I spending enough time with the people who matter to
me?Â
- How can I improve the quality of the time spent with the people I
love?Â
- Are my routines truly serving me or do I do some things in a certain way just because I have been doing them that way for a
while?Â
- Is what I do throughout the day working for me or can I do a few things
better?Â
- Is my home the sanctuary I want it to
be?
- Am I doing the work best suited for my needs right
now?Â
- Am I using my leisure time in a way that brings me
joy?
- Am I choosing the right influences to my thinking and inspiration to my creativity in what I hear, see, watch or
read?
I know that it's a lot of important questions but maybe one of them deserves more reflection. Write it down, let it percolate in the
coming days and be open to what comes up. Patience is key; it takes time to unravel the threads of our life and all those things we do on autopilot but it's worth it.
