I think that, at least for me, a key part of the importance of this time of year is the pause it gives you between the frenzy of Xmas and all that leads up to it and the beginning of the new year.  I don’t believe we are really designed to go straight from one space directly to a new one; that just feels like more of the same.  Think about it like traffic lights, between the green and the red you have amber; a space to change your state and expectations.  We all need that, I know I certainly do.

Whilst there are busy days over the holiday, I value the ‘do nothing’ ones just as highly.  Spending time in bed in the morning when there is nothing but hunger to make you rise from that little warm nest.  However, every time I promise myself that I’ll come straight back after I have eaten, somehow I never do.  Once that passive state is broken, you can’t recreate it just by going back to bed.

Make sure that you treasure and use the non-doing time this holiday and use it to prepare yourself for the sleigh ride that 2009 is sure to bring!  Good Luck!

“The art of Being, the art of Non-doing is very subtle. Non-doing is not merely a lack of activity but an energy experience of stillness.  This Non-doing is your presence, your very amness, the positive experience of being truly alive.”

Resources:

1. Taoism & Non-doing