You already know what it be! It’s time for another monthly check-in on how I am doing these 4 different areas of life: social, physical/health, occupation, and spiritual.
Social
Throughout this past month, it’s been kind of up and down, emotionally speaking. We have covered some heavy topics in our classes, and I have learned a lot about myself through retreats and a couple personality tests (for those who are interested, I am a 5w6 on the Enneagram, and an ISTJ on the Myers-Briggs). I would normally say that my alone time is a space for me to recharge, but the people I have spent time with every week (and weekend) of this month were rejuvenating! I was blessed with the opportunities to celebrate my mama’s 50th birthday with friends and family, play board games with some people from work, visit a bluegrass festival, workout at Burn Boot Camp with some of the fellows, visit Lake Gaston for a retreat on Family Systems, attend the North Carolina state fair, visit the Raleigh Rescue Mission, spend a weekend at New Life Camp with the youth from the church, and many many other events (this month has been BUSY). In the midst of all this learning and spending of emotional energy, there was a stretch of time where I felt lonely, unseen and unheard for some reason. Not sure how that comes about while spending all this time with so many people, but I came to realize that others in the group struggled with something similar. A way I want to keep fighting this is by providing seeing eyes and listening ears, and when that happens, people tend to reciprocate! It’s important to engage in both seeing and listening for others; it would be challenging to spot a bird in a tree, but once it starts tweeting, it is so much easier to see!
Physical / Health
Still doing alright, but I will say, binging Ted Lasso absolutely tarnished my sleep schedule. I haven’t been to the hospital or emergency room for anything serious (despite playing soccer weekly), which is a blessing. I still aim to get at least 6 hours of sleep every night, even if the times in which I go to bed are a little inconsistent every night. Playing music at church can sometimes feel like a work day, but the songs we sing are always amazing and life-giving; getting to church at 7am on those Sundays is always worth it!
Occupational
Work has gotten better throughout the month. I have been working on a company-wide project for the past couple of weeks, and it’s nice to see how my work plays a role in the greater picture of what the company is trying to accomplish. My office is also in the Research Triangle Park, which is a good 30 min away with traffic. That drive to and from work seems like an extra hour of work that I don’t get paid for, and I use a decent amount of unnecessarily expensive ($3.39/gal ?? Why tho?) gas every week. But longer drives seem to be therapeutic for me, and I appreciate those snippets of alone time where I can listen to music and watch people run red lights and stop signs.
Spiritual
This section could be pages long honestly, but I just want to highlight one area of life in particular. Personally, I have (still) been reading ‘Garden City’ by John Mark Comer. One thing that has truly stuck out to me is the relationship between work and rest. Work is very much a good thing that even God Himself engaged in for the first 6 days of creation. But He also reminds us that we aren’t robots, and we need to rest (in Him) on that 7th day, just like He did. The Sabbath is something I want to continue to take more seriously. It was easier in college due to the consistency of schedule, but I would typically devote from Saturday noon to Sunday noon as a time of rest where no homework or laundry or any work was done. I always found these times to be life-giving, and used these times to take naps, dive into scripture, or engage in conversations with the people in my ‘COVID bubble’. It’s been harder to do that because we are gone some weekends; when I miss a time for Sabbath, I can almost feel the apparent unrest deep in my soul and in my bones, sometimes dreading the week to come after a busy weekend. Even if the weekend was very God-centered and filled with scripture and good word, some form of a Sabbath is still necessary. But I can’t just sit here and complain about how I got bamboozled out of a Sabbath one particular weekend; it takes diligence and planning ahead if I truly want to make the effort to Sabbath at least once in a 7-day period. Sabbath (no work, no laundry, no getting gas, no running errands, etc..) could take place from Thursday evening - Friday evening, or even a Monday morning - Tuesday morning, if I know the weekend will be a busy one. A prayer request for me is that I continue to take the Day of Rest more seriously moving forward.
Alright, time to get off the trolley. Until next time!
BB
** Some Fellows Pro Tips from the month of October
- Don’t wear flat-bottom shoes to a festival or fair where you will be walking around for a couple hours. Both your sole and your soul will be in extreme pain.
- In late October / early November, make sure you go for (at least) a 5 mile drive on 540. The trees are so beautiful and colorful, and it felt like I was either driving on Rainbow Road or Maple Treeway from MarioKart. Watching leaves change colors is likely the most beautiful death you will ever watch.
- Go get involved in an extracurricular activity outside of Fellows when you have the time. The Fellows bubble is amazing, but it has been cool to see and experience the rest of what Raleigh has to offer.
- Listen to random artists, or try listening to music that you wouldn’t normally listen to. You might actually like some of their songs. A ha ha.
Oh. And Happy National Deviled Egg Day (https://www.google.com/search?q=national+deviled+egg+day&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS697US697&oq=national+devil&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i324j0i512l3j0i22i30l5.6254j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)