On Unwinding

I have been reflecting on how tightly we in the West, in the Urban West in particular, are wound. How obstructed is our view into our own souls by the very busy lifestyles we choose? I have few answers yet...but some percolating ideas.


There is something good about being in this culture for me. The change of location, the change from West Coast hype to Mexican tranquilo has forced me to slow down in many respects. The fact that the work of my hands is more manageable here, makes a large impact on the “free” time I now enjoy. Since the children started school again, the space has reopened for me to write, to think, to read, to rest. In addition, Jason isn't working and travelling as usual, so he shares in the chores much more. He’s ready and willing to do dishes, breakfast, lunch or dinner (we don’t have a dishwasher here) or watch the laundry hanging on the line, when the rain threatens to ruin that hour’s worth of my labor. (He’s usually up on the roof reading or praying…not literally watching the laundry dry…though that image does express some of the way our life has slowed.)


At the moment, I see three main differences in the patterns of my life here in Mexico that are absent from my life in the Bay Area.


1) A few of you know that I am a news junkie. I read papers, listen to NPR, even read the conservative weekly that my brother buys for me (which he hopes will help to balance out the “liberal” Bay Area influence in my media intake). But here…I am watching less news. I know little of what is going on in politics and among the people of power. A week after the fact, I have learned of the resignation of Gonzalez, Snow and Rove…this would not have been truth a couple of months ago. Mind you…I know exactly what is happening with the A’s and the NL West and other baseball news. This has been a year where baseball has made a huge resurgence in my life. But I’m taking a sabbatical from political news. I suppose that’s okay for a season. Anyway…it definitely frees up time.


2) I clean less…and the compulsive nature of my “clean up everything and make it shine” self slumbers here. I see dirt, I see grime and I don’t clean. I stop myself from cleaning because I know that Berta is coming on Friday. I convince myself that I can live with the grime for a few days. Berta, after all, must have something to do for three hours. This too has freed up time.


3) Life is simpler here and we have a lot less stuff. We have fewer clothes, toys, board games, sporting equipment. There is no car to wash, no house to fix. Managing our stuff ends up taking a lot of my time at home. That’s not all bad, but it is one of the costs of living in the West. It all adds up and sucks time away from the quieter disciplines. Here are a few examples of how our lives have slowed down. I haven’t been on a freeway/highway in 3 weeks. I haven’t been to Cost Co. or a large box store in months. I walk to one of our local farmers’ markets every day. I can walk to the grocery store. We walk to school, to the little league field, to church. This is a simple existence and in many ways, a small life we’re leading. (Everyone here has a car, so I suspect if we stayed long-term, we might end up buying a car). Also, in general, the kids get a lot less homework. That has a positive impact on our family life.


These are my reflections so far. I am unwinding. I’m also homesick here and there. I miss my friends, my church and various aspects of the Bay Area, but I do not miss the complexity and busyness of that life. For the most part, I’m happy to have this chance to decelerate and I’m not sure I would have very much (or perhaps it would have taken longer) had we stayed at home.

I read an interesting interview of David Sedaris in the Missouri Review recently. Though he lives in New York, he does not drive, own a cell phone or have an email address. His reflections on these "deficiencies" were fascinating. He has forced simplicity into his life, chosen a more monastic existence, despite many pressures around him. On one occasion, a very frustrated friend who had been trying to find him at the airport in Paris, gave him a cell phone, which DS never turned on, of course. Anyway, his devotion to writing, his focus and his ability to "turn off" the outside world...even when living in an incredibly busy city, has caused me to contemplate how change might come down the pike for me out of this sabbatical. What to prune for the sake of focus?

Thankfully, I have a few more months to figure this out.