Rut, Routine, or Ritual? ~By Lexa Fisher

Photo by Photo by Ca Ku on Unsplash

What defines a rut, routine, or ritual, and does it matter? 

One definition I found for a rut is "Metaphorically being stuck in a rut means your life is not going where you want it to but you cannot escape."

A routine is "a self-imposed adherence to a set of activities". Routines help you be more productive.

A ritual may be something that grounds us, like that morning cup of coffee or the first big stretch of the day. Is it really the caffeine that gets us started, or is it the familiar, grounding activity of starting our day with the first inhale of roasted coffee beans?

I have a tightly scheduled work day, known as defensive calendaring. This practice protects my time so I can do work. At home a schedule helps me focus. Routines allow me to get things done without giving them much thought, such as doing the dishes or starting another load of laundry. 

I view a routine as setting the pace and course for my mind. Throughout the day I have a plan and get things done. 

Photo by howling red on Unsplash

When there’s no routine I often find myself at a loss as to what to do and end up doing housework because I'm just too tired to think about how to use that unplanned, free time. 

It's often that when I'm busy an article or a favorite topic piques my interest. Unless I jot these ideas down, I don't recall them in those weekend hours where I have space on my calendar for my own interests.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

How can you tell whether something is a rut, routine, or ritual? Some clues are found in how you feel. Are you just going through drab motions? Sounds like the rut that was defined above.





A routine may feel like you're in the groove and getting things done efficiently. Maybe robotically, but at least it's not taxing and you're accomplishing things. :) 

But the ritual...ah, that brings balance back into life. Those are the moments to inhale, maybe close your eyes, and feel your own rhythm.

Photo by Deniz Altindas on Unsplash

Saucha / Cleanliness ~ by Cynthia Land, LMT, RYT

amazon.com

How many of you are going through your closets deciding what shirts bring you joy?  The Marie Kondo plan of simplifying is not a new one.  The yogic concept of saucha or cleanliness has been around for millennia and feeds into this idea of austerity.  If you understand the 8 limbs of yoga, much of it is about eliminating suffering. Within the first limb of yoga is the concept of saucha.  Here we find removing clutter also helps clear the mind which in turn helps reduce suffering. 

I need only glance at the mess on my desk to know that it brings me anxiety/suffering.  Where to start is always the issue. I’m tempted to throw everything in a burn barrel and start over. No, that’s not the answer but the solution often seems overwhelming. This has happened to many of us. We have become overwhelmed. We’ve accumulated so many things, whether they be papers, books, cars, shoes or problems that we don’t know where to start. Thank goodness for others who have come up with processes that work. 

https://lennymud.com/products/mature-key-plate-my-fn-keys

If you’ve ever watched any of the cooking shows, you’ll notice that chefs clean as they go, wiping spills and washing knives right after use. Much of life SHOULD go this way and yet the socks somehow can’t quite hit the hamper. Note that putting the socks IN the hamper takes a millisecond and creates a cleaner space in your room. Are you willing to give two shits for some happiness? Translate this into the dining room after a meal when instead of leaving dishes on the table you instantly put them in the dishwasher, or when you come into your home you leave your shoes by the door and put your keys in a pretty dish where you can easily and quickly locate them the next morning.  

Another process I’ve found useful is the 15 minute rule. “I’ll only do this for 15 minutes.” (Pinterest task list) Completely cleaning off my desk or cleaning my house is instantly overwhelming. But if I can tell myself, I'll just clean for 15 minutes then the task seems manageable. I use this method with a lot of things in my life. Even writing. I like it because I can see an endpoint and I don't feel as though it has to be perfect, I just have to get started. Getting started several days in a row, gets things done. Also, I don't limit myself to 15 minutes. If I want to longer, then I give myself permission to do as much as I like.  

One of the other yogic practices related to saucha is kriya or cleansing techniques. There are a litany of these and I won't go into all of them here. You can see and try a few by referring back to my blog from January. Suffice to say the yogis found living in the corporeal world a little trying. They're were constantly finding things about the body to clean. They cleaned their diet by often being vegan or fasting.  They did intense water cleanses of the digestive, respiratory and excretory systems. Some of these were done around the change of the seasons. All of this was done in an effort to remove any impurities that might hamper their ability to reach enlightenment. Today we learn from these techniques but we don't have to adhere to them.  

When it comes to removing clutter, we might also want to turn the spotlight on our relationships.  How are the people in our lives supporting us?  Do they bring us joy or suffering?  If they are bringing suffering, are we willing distance ourselves from them?  Some feel compelled to keep certain people in their lives because they are family or we've known them since childhood.  But if these people are toxic and preventing from us growing and succeeding it might be time to let them go.  I stopped talking with my dad for about a year when his PTSD got to a point where I could barely have a conversation with him without it turning into a full blown argument.  My parent's home was no longer safe for me.  We both went into counseling in separate ways but were eventually able to come back together and are now closer than ever.  

This spring I tell myself I will take everything out of my clothing closet and keep only what brings me joy, 15 minutes at a time. 

My Muddled Mind ~ by Jacquolyn McMurray

Most of us are doing our best to balance family, work, household responsibilities, and creative pursuits. Long ago, I learned productivity comes from the ability to multitask. Magazine articles gave me ideas on how to do many things simultaneously.  I could cook, read email, and balance on one foot at the same time.

In the last few years, some compelling research has been published about the dangers of multitasking. Articles with scary titles emerged:  Multitasking is Killing Your Brain, How Multitasking Affects Productivity, and Multitasking Damages Your Brain and Your Career. My brain and my career? 

I had to take action. I vowed to concentrate on one pursuit at a time. If I was writing, I'd set a timer and stay off social media. If I was in the kitchen, I'd pay attention to cooking or cleaning and stay off the phone. Sounded like a plan I could implement, but after a week I realized I couldn't complete all my tasks. 

Plan 2: Don't do more than two things at once. Okay. That shouldn't hurt my brain too much.  I'd pay the bills while I watched tv. That seemed to work, and my brain seemed fine. Surely I could add just one more thing. I'd keep a notebook beside me on the couch and jot down plot points for my upcoming romance novella. Three things. I could do three things without damaging my brain.

I carried my supplies to the couch: notebook, stacks of bills, pen, and my checkbook. I turned on the tv, took notes when inspired, and wrote checks.

Two weeks later, I received a letter from the Department of Water. I scanned the official looking letter claiming they had to send my check back because it was not filled out correctly. Darn, I thought, did I forget to sign it?

I looked at the signature line of the returned check. My name was there.  I glanced at the rest of the check—all the sections were filled in.  What was the problem?

Okay, fine. I’d need to actually read the letter to find out what the problem was. It couldn’t be lack of funds, could it?  It shouldn’t be.  I’d left a nice buffer in the account for incidental costs that might present themselves.

I poured another cup of coffee and read the letter thoroughly. The problem was in the "Pay to the order of" line.

Yup. Thinking about three things at once. I can only hope the office staff at the Department of Water got a good laugh out of my error and that my brain wasn't damaged too much.