Pushing–
an ode to rest
Thanks be for the “pushing energy”
that gets us along to the next
Pushing into challenge
Pushing past
Pushing through
For the vitality to get through the battles
Small and big
Thanks be for the times where pushing past
is all we can do
When “getting through”
is getting through
And some part of us
Knows there
Is more…
For us
Somewhere…
For all those times
Where pushing
Was what we were taught—
The grit of life was learned
For the fortitude for
Hard
But I see that there's a new way now.
Where “pushing” just isn’t enough
Anymore.
Abundance of rest
Action from overflow
Is what is actually
Best
The times where being driven
And the hardness
That’s required
Just isn’t going to
Provide a steady ride
A consistent path
A pace that will survive…
While the path of pushing
Is useful, yes
Being “pulled”
Is…
Something else.
Emerging is allowed
Coming into your own
—in your time—
Is okay
School, where assignments
& deadlines
Don’t rule the day
Now THAT would
Be the day!
Creativity
Good ideas
Energy flow
Naturalness
Being enough…there
There are so many things
We create in this life
That are pushed
And prodded
Forward
We get so used to pushing
Here in this town
That we forget…
We forget
That we even
Know how
To float
(“But that’s only for vacation!
For when your nervous system
Is shot
Or when you’ve pushed “yourself”
Into exhaustion
And you simply can’t.
Be
Pushed
Anymore.”)
What if we were
The masters
Of time
And didn’t let it
Master us
Anymore?
What if we stopped
Being slaves to time?
And made “the ticking clock”
Work for us?
For once?
What if floating
Wasn’t a luxury
Anymore?
But a common cadence
As common as any?
What if floating
Was one of the strokes
In our repertoire
We could swim
Along with
Pushing—
Stopping—
Running—
Sitting—
Dancing—
Tarrying—
All equally good.
What if all of these belonged?
To us?
Again?
I make a case here,
In the end,
For more pace shifting…
May our pace
(especially here in DC)
…Instead of “a passionate mon-o-tone”...
Be more in line
With the cadence
Of the DANCE:
Quick, quick, slow…
Or perhaps, even
Slow
Slow
Slow.
What would we do if
Our nervous systems
Were not
Bullied
Pushed
Or prodded
In our jobs?
But pleasure
In working
Was incentivized?
(I think the French
Already
Do this
Well
Joie de vivre!)
What if beauty creating
Requires
Rest? Calm? Peace? Joy?
May all our frazzled parts
Be mended.
May we take a breath
And remember
That
Pleasure
Is the part of life
That motivates
Us
Most
To do our life’s best work.
