Restoration in Laughter, Tears & Sweat

A recipe for the restoration of the spirit.

I find restoration in the strangest places.

Tucked between the seats while I detail my car. Between honest laughter and bright tears. Relaxing along the floor of the incoming tide while my body surfs the waves like I did when I was small. At the back of the cupboard after I arrange all of the mugs. In each grain of sand between my toes.

With every well placed utterance of the word no.

In every joyful, open-hearted yes.

In this world, restoration isn’t just a horizontal activity. 

Though there is room for sleep, also. 

In this world, restoration is an approach. It the naturalness that I allow myself as I navigate the world. It is in the quiet pause and open field of wondering how I might accomplish everything that I want to without sacrificing myself to do it.

It is the both/and. The greyzone. The place where naps and drafts of my first book are born.

It is the place where my ambition dances with my humanity.

Where dreams are born and dehydration is acknowledged.

Too often, we tell ourselves that we will never get anywhere without pushing. 

But, how does that pushing make you feel?

Are your feelings an important metric of success?

In this world, I want to feel really good. That is my primary metric of success. It is more important to me that money or my word count or a program filled to the brim with amazing women. Those things allow me to feel good, but they don’t equal good in and of themselves.

The goodness is found in the luxury of a slow morning.

In coffee with coconut milk.

In reading vampire books for pleasure, even when a stack of educational materials calls for my attention.

In getting outside, every day.

The goodness is found in salt water – tears and sweat. 

It is found in the permission to stop living my life in accordance with other people’s values. Other people’s rules. Other people’s metrics.

It is found in the refusal to be busy, when the unspoken agreement is that “busy = good.”

I am good and I am not busy and so are you. Because our goodness is intrinsic. It cannot be earned.

It is found in permission. 

Your restoration is the other half of the equation. It IS the life balance that you’re always talking about. It is the natural give and take of pouring your energy into your life and pausing to refill the reservoir. And, repeat. Your restoration is cyclical, like the tide.

In not taking yourself too seriously.

Yet, also carving out time to rest on purpose, because it is your job to take your needs seriously.

The restoration here is in the approach. 

It is the three minutes that you allow yourself to brush your teeth without multi-tasking. In the deep breath before you respond. In the extra moment between the sheets. In a cool sip of water.

In allowing yourself to be a person that is not a productivity machine, but a living, breathing being. A being with requirements for continued participation.

Because, our actions are only as good as our restoration. This is the cycle of our energy, and we must pause to restore ourselves so that we can keep showing up, claiming what we want, asking (out loud and in the presence of another), and loving ourselves through the process.

The question is: How will you pause to restore yourself today?

Take a moment to survey your own energy. How do you feel? What do you need? What would allow today to work for you…. even better?

Do that. Prioritize that.

Begin there.

Or join us here…