Busyness is a form of people pleasing, and people pleasing is a coping strategy. If I can’t feel good about myself from the inside, then I make sure to get as much external validation as possible. The more I say yes, the harder I work, the more validation I receive which, because of how I grew up and interacted with the world as a child/teenager, makes me feel good.
But at the end of the day, crawling into bed, it just makes me tired.
Not only does being busy for me mean the relentless act of people pleasing, but it also means I get to escape from my reality. I don’t know much about the history of why humans are the way we are, but I get the idea that humans have needed some form of escapism as a means of survival.
Sometimes escapism is just me daydreaming about the clock saying it’s time to go home, and at other times, I’m so not at home in my own skin that I absolutely need a promise of something otherworldly to allow me to relax, even for a second.
Our forms of escapism are wide and varied. Mostly, I think about vacation and not having my cell phone (like, forever banishing it to the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay), and walking the gangway onto a cruise ship bound for warmer waters. I think about early retirement or tending a large garden outside our homestead in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains (we do not in fact own a homestead in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains). I think about camping among the huge evergreens of the Pacific Northwest, of the breeze on my face as I ride the ferry out to the San Juan Islands. I think about the freedom of a day with no worries, cares, checking the bank account, making grocery lists, doing laundry.
My preferred form of escapism is busyness. Always floating and moving from commitment to commitment, filling up my calendar to the brim and always being on the move. If I’m always moving, I never have to actually sit and be faced with the fact that I’m not in fact on vacation right now or sailing away from Baltimore or taking a hike up to a waterfall. I can just move from event to event, place to place, and maybe stop for a second to fill up the gas tank but just keep ignoring the fact that the car needs maintenance, that it’ll be just fine for a few more miles.
But at some point, the car will break down. I will have to take an entire Saturday to either sit at the repair shop waiting for it, or work out a way to get a ride to and from and anticipate that fated call that tells me I’m going to take a chunk of savings to fix the damn car (and a part of that savings was probably for real vacation). And the Saturday I was planning on using to relax and do some “self-care” will be shot.
For some reason, cultivating a life that’s a mix of work + play, consistently, seems not only outlandish but also irresponsible. To open my calendar during a regular workweek and not see anything scheduled outside of my working hours just seems unnatural.
It seems unnatural because it is. But my body and soul and spirit are reeling, they’re telling me,
Elizabeth. It’s been 30 years of this busyness & people-pleasing bullshit. We can’t take it anymore. Please stop.
I think the things I daydream about while entrenched in my reality are clues to things I could actually do now to live the life that makes sense to me. I could go for a hike after work, or on a Saturday morning. I could load up the kayak on a Friday afternoon. I could sit on my porch with coffee and a book in the morning before work. I could spend a weekend in the woods.
But if I say yes to all those things, then I’m saying no to other things, and *gasp* ‘no’ to people. The horror. It’s a skill I have not yet mastered, but I’m working on it. Practice with me. (Disclaimer: this might feel a little bit like a grammatical exercise. Bear with the linguist/teacher here.)
- No, I can’t work a part-time job in addition to my full-time job.
- No, I can’t take on a leadership role in this ministry.
- No, I can’t volunteer for that event on that day.
- No, I can’t donate money to that cause.
- No, I can’t stay after school and plan unless I’m getting paid.
- No I can’t stay after school, period.
- No, I can’t chair that committee.
- No, I can’t bring something for lunch day.
- No, I don’t want to be out past 8 on a work night.
- No, I need to stay home tonight to cook a healthy dinner.
- No, I have a therapy appointment that I will not miss.
- No, I am taking a break from drinking.
- No, [what you can’t or won’t do].
Great job. You said your peace (piece? I think it can be both…). Now, let’s practice by adding ___ + so that ____.
- No, I can’t work a part-time job in addition to my full-time job so that I can pursue a passion project such as writing.
- No, I can’t take on a leadership role in this ministry so that I can do a really good job leading the ministry I’m already leading.
- No, I can’t volunteer for that event on that day so that I can have time for exercise.
- No, I can’t donate money to that cause so that I can fully contribute to retirement.
- No, I can’t stay after school and plan unless I’m getting paid so that I communicate to administration that I will not work for free.
- No I can’t stay after school, period so that I can get home and make a healthy dinner.
- No, I can’t chair that committee so that I can devote my undivided attention to planning engaging and high-quality lessons.
- No, I can’t bring something for lunch day so that I can relax with my partner after making and cleaning up dinner.
- No, I don’t want to be out past 8 on a work night so that I get enough sleep.
- No, I need to stay home tonight to cook a healthy dinner so that I can take care of my body.
- No, I have a therapy appointment that I will not miss so that I can continue to heal after saying goodbye to the dream of having my own children and losing loved ones.
- No, I am taking a break from drinking so that I can have a clear mind and work on dealing with reality.
- No, [what you can’t or won’t do] so that [insert positive alternative here].
Can you see that the statement that comes after so that is actually a value statement about your own life?
- I can pursue a passion project such as writing.
- I can do a really good job leading the ministry I’m already leading.
- I can have time for exercise.
- I can fully contribute to retirement.
- I communicate to administration that I will not work for free.
- I can get home and make a healthy dinner.
- I can devote my undivided attention to planning engaging and high-quality lessons.
- I can relax with my partner after making and cleaning up dinner.
- I can get enough sleep.
- I can take care of my body.
- I can continue to heal after saying goodbye to the dream of having my own children and losing loved ones.
- I can have a clear mind and work on dealing with reality as it comes my way.
Last step, my friends. Let’s add yes to those statements. And now you have guiding affirmations.
- Yes, I can pursue a passion project such as writing.
- Yes, I can do a really good job leading the ministry I’m already leading.
- Yes, I can have time for exercise.
- Yes, I can fully contribute to retirement.
- Yes, I communicate to administration that I will not work for free.
- Yes, I can get home and make a healthy dinner.
- Yes, I can devote my undivided attention to planning engaging and high-quality lessons.
- Yes, I can relax with my partner after making and cleaning up dinner.
- Yes, I can get enough sleep.
- Yes, I can take care of my body.
- Yes, I can continue to heal after saying goodbye to the dream of having my own children and losing loved ones.
- Yes, I can have a clear mind and work on dealing with reality as it comes my way.
FYI I did not copy-pasta ‘yes’; I typed every single one. It felt good.
I hope you can see that this form of self-care actually extends beyond self and into the world. If you believe that we are all in this together, we sentient, feeling, emoting human beings, then you probably agree that if we take care of ourselves, put on our own oxygen masks first, then we’re taking care of all of us. We provide a much-needed yet humble model for forging a new path in our burdened, overworked, stressed society. And we make it better.
