T’is the season to set strategies

Giving up the bigger busy

Sunrise, from Pender Island to Vancouver for Christmas. I love seaplanes!

“T’is the season to be setting strategies,” my friend informed me. I laughed and said that sounded sparkly. We agreed this wouldn’t involve the attitude we’d seen a lot of lately, I have a bigger busy than you. Think of this last being spoken in a competitive kindergarten fashion. You’ve observed this, you’ve maybe even had someone do it to you. Let’s say I’m out shopping for groceries at the little center on Pender Island. I greet someone, I’ll call her Elena. Elena’s bouncing, her hands are tapping and her shoulders are thrown back. I read her body language as aggressive.

I say, “How are you?”

Elena responds, “Oh, I’m so busy. I have this meeting I have to be at, and I’m on a committee where the work we do is so important. Also I’m taking a class on Zoom, and there’s another group I meet with—” At that point, Elena goes on, but I hold my hands up in surrender. She has a much bigger busy than me. I’ve lost. Furthermore, I’m okay with that. I want to find small shiny things to be happy about. Tiny magics like the flock of pine siskins that swooped in on the cedar tree by my window this morning. They arrived in a spate of particularly heavy rain and took me to a state of wonder.

Pine siskin

If a person is in a high-powered corporate environment or in politics, intense activity goes with the territory. However, when a retired person in front of Tru Value launches into competitive complaining to show how in-demand they are, I have a hard time keeping a straight face. Now, I understand that some people are caregivers for relatives, others help their neighbours and some are quiet heroes in their volunteer work. They’re not the ones I’ve observed pulling a bigger busy.

An interesting and worthwhile article in Open Democracy points out, “Our global economic and political order fuels a state of constant activity, and busy-ness harms both individual and community well-being.”

The opposite of busyness is contemplation, a slow delighted turn of the head to observe what’s around, in my case like the here-and-gone flock of pine siskins. These are scary times we live in: I won’t minimize that. Spiritual practice and pulling away from constant activity allows me to thoughtfully consider what’s going on in the day with family, friends and the world. Does this make me special and important? Ha, far from it. Possibly a better person

Playing a game with my granddaughter, age 3 1/2.

.“T’is the season to be setting strategies,” my friend said. In my books, what she meant is working smart to achieve a long-term goal, and, according to Wikipedia, “under conditions of uncertainty.”

Can I articulate a strategy of sparkliness? Or at least of finding sparkliness? And will this be different for each person or is there an overall value resonating behind the concept?

I hope your holidays have been peaceful and that you’ve enjoyed/are enjoying delightful meals with friends or family. As we head towards a New Year, if you have thoughts on strategies of your own, I’d love to hear them!

Lighthouse on Mayne Island, returning to Pender