quick note: this blog post is not written by AI. The writing below features ideas and wisdom of artists, personal journalling and newsletter writing, curated to what a therapist feels the world is needing these days.
Image via @realizationbypea
from our newsletter, written by Linda Lin, RCC, RCAT
Be real with me… what is your relationship with time like? ୧ ‧ ˚
When I am overwhelmed, time feels like the scariest, most unattainable currency that I cannot get back once it pasts by. From the hours, minutes to seconds, I find myself reacting to my thoughts, the ‘standards’ and shoulds on how I need to be spending my time and transforming it into something valuable, productive, ~rich~.
This obsession leaks into how I see money, work, relationships and I'd hate to admit this, my entire sense of self.
I’ve met so many people who try to force outcomes to ‘shape their reality.’ That might look like getting a perfect job with no career gaps or trying to appear as though they have their life together by a certain age (we're not even on linkedin btw •̀ ᴖ •́). Over time, those expectations can attach themselves to our identity and perceived reality.
via pinterest
The more we obsess over time, the more it breeds fear, frustration, hesitation and misalignment.
Did you know?
Your energy is your most VALUABLE resource in life.
Therefore where you put your time and attention determines everything.
Instead of forcing outcomes, what if we start curating your reality with alignment, creative direction, and thoughtful refinement. Like an artist curating their work 𖦹
via pinterest
I journaled this the other day: “my relationship with time is kind, sweet, caring, full of life, light”
Perhaps mourning/stressing about time and next thing, which is heavy in weight, is dictating a relationship with time that isn’t valuable to me!
We cannot time hop in multiple streams of consciousness.
So disappointing, am I right? It's really too bad that we can’t live in every parallel timeline like we are everything everywhere all at once. Trying to juggle all the goals, tasks, and “what ifs,” whether it’s making our days off perfect or savouring the end of summer, usually just leaves us with an abstract and confused state of feeling.
HOWEVER, I’ve been thinking a lot about quantum leaping, also called timeline jumping. The idea is that if you’re on level 1 and you want to get to level 8, it’s really about giving yourself room to believe that level 8 is just the next step, waiting for you.
Time is not something we need to centre and obsess over.
Thanks to this tiktok I watched last month, I've been on this case ever since. Obsessing about time traps us in procrastination, locks us into overwhelm, and confines us to cycles of productivity and capitalist urgency which are the very things we don’t want taking over our lives.
When our most easeful and fluid path (the realm where time flow exists) starts to blur under pressure, how can we anchor ourselves to remember how we want time and life to truly feel?
Here’s your art journalling prompt:
Draw and describe how fluid time is to you currently. Draw a portal that allows you to experience time the way you want time to feel.
Use your fave mediums: Mine are stickers, collaging, digital media like Pinterest images, sparkly gel pens, words, pencil crayons, oil pastels, coloured pens to express myself.
From this prompt, TIME IS A MEADOW came up for me. I call her, Mother Time. Instead of me trying to micro-manage/control time, or duelling it out with time, she is here to support me. This isn't a battle. I also don't have to mother time. Time is here for me and with me. I'm rolling with it and curious to what this art prompt will reveal for you!
TLDR; or don't feel like journalling? Try reflecting on this in the month ahead:
✩ Gently build curiosity by learning your unique rhythm and pace.
✩ Practice your ability to redirect and focus with purpose and intention.
✩ Slowly expand your capacity for flow instead of control with time.
I see you! ⋆˙⟡ written by yours truly, Linda