Values
I reflected on what’s important to me. There were a lot of things, as you might expect, but I kept going over them until I got down to a list of 4:
- Balance
- Solitude
- Meaning
- Compassion
There were some surprises. Balance has been so important to me for such a long time, years, but I hadn’t thought about it as a value in and of itself. Felt good to change that.
Solitude, also something I’ve valued – increasingly so since I extended my working week – I hadn’t thought about explicitly naming in this way.
Meaning, covers a multitude of things, and makes it possible for me to grasp the flexible and varying nature of what matters to me, and why. And keeps me in touch with my existentialist outlook.
Compassion, well, I don’t know how to expand on this one. It’s just core to healthy relationships with self and others, and enables growth.
In talking with colleagues about what we value, I got some great insights on appreciation and persistence from other folks, which helped get me back to writing down things I’m thankful for each day. Thank you folks!
And I know I want to work on persistence and execution, I have a lot of room for growth in those areas.
Balance
So, that said, I set to work on digging further into what balance means to me, and what I’m aspiring to. I mapped out what my days look like now, and how I want them to look in future.
I made lists of things I want to do that I’m not currently doing (writing, activism and moving more). And I worked out that I want to start with moving more, so I made a list of things to try, including an dance class during the week before work.
Another thing that’s important to me is to work on universal income, somehow. So figuring that one out too.
Watch this space for more about balance.
Screen-free Sundays
I reinstituted digital detox days. By default that’s Sundays for me. And I did it this week, hurrah! I do find it challenging, because I aim not to look at screens in the evenings, which only leaves Saturday daytimes for watching things. But I did find it extremely valuable and relaxing having my phone off and not going on my Chromebook, much as I love it…