Monday, February 02, 2004

Delaying decisions till they're effortless My MS Outlook calendar shows a decision item for today. "Decide about haircut." I put the item on the calendar several months ago when my hair was really bothering me. I'd been letting it grow long for over a year, but my former bangs were still short enough to get in my face a lot. I'd decided to let my hair grow long for three reasons. Hair in my face makes me extremely uncomfortable. So I was always clipping my bangs off my face, which looked odd. Second, my hairline is very low on my neck, on both sides, so that even my superb hair stylist had trouble cutting it short in the back so it looked good and was comfortable. Third, and most important, I feel and look more like myself - to me - with my brow showing. I feel like the kind of person who shows her whole face and doesn't try to look cute or charming with bangs. I'd look in the mirror, push my bangs away from my face, and think "oh, there you are. That's me." It's so annoying when something minor in life becomes so important. Short hair or long? In this world, how much does this matter? Not as much as I was thinking about it. So I decided to stop thinking about it for several months. I think I gave myself another six months - probably another three inches of hair length. I decided not to reconsider during that time, just make the best of it. Spring would be a better time to start again with short hair anyway. So today's the day. Of course in the meantime I've become comfortable with long hair. The decision is made effortlessly. Thanks to conscious procrastination! Now that I know how well this works, I'll use it again. Whenever I start to agonize over some minor decision, a molehill looming like a mountain, I'll choose a decision date a few months away. Then I'll be able to clear it out of my mind. I wonder if this would work with "mountain" decisions too. Might they shrink to look like molehills? That would be nifty. I do remember taking a month's "vacation" from a huge decision about a relationship. I'd been thinking about it night and day for two months and was getting exhausted. The "vacation" did make it easy to decide later. Hmm. So maybe hours of online research aren't necessary for EVERY big decision? Maybe vacations would work better? Since this is the year for effortlessness, the answer is obvious. Hello, vacations. 10:06:10 AM    comment []

Candlemas: Faith in Spring and Summer Light and Warmth February 2 is a traditional "cross-day" holiday, between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It's called Candlemas. The old Celtic name is Imbolc. Traditionally the holiday began at sunset on February 1, ending at sunset on the second. It seems as if this holiday is essentially about faith that spring will come. In some cultures it's the day to prepare the fields for planting. Sometimes it's about animal fertility. Everywhere in the northern hemisphere, it's about the coming of the light, of the longer days of spring and summer. So today I celebrate faith in the spring to come this year. If success were sure, what would I begin? Perhaps it's not quite time to begin a creative project, but it's time to make preparations. Today marks the time to summon all possible faith. Winter's rest is done. Today is the gradual beginning of the year's projects. Of course, the preparation will be natural and effortless. That's what faith does - make action so secure that it becomes effortless. So the wintertime deepening of faith, so appropriate for times of greater darkness, gives the impetus for spring action. 9:50:16 AM    comment []