Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

I was made acutely aware of living my life too fast when I was recently pulled over for running a stop sign.  Well, I didn't run it, I did a Chicago roll through it as I always do through that intersection. No ticket, but a stern warning.

Love this detail on the side of a duplex.

Made me realize how seldom I slow down - how fast I live my life.  I'm now aware when I come to a full and complete stop at a stop sign.  I multi-task all the time at work - it's nearly a requirement since we have had so many positions cut.


Took a nice relaxing week off and went to Oak Park to care for my sister's pets.  I went with the objective of reading, beading, and drawing at the very least with some movies thrown in.

A redbud caught in transition.

I ended up watching very little tv, spent a lot of time listening to music and focusing on the task at hand (although if I was truly focusing, I would have turned the music off.)  I also drove around town with the intent of noticing details.

Beaded beads - the same pattern, different beads.  I enjoy playing around with different bead shapes to see how they'd turn out.

Got back to work and really noticed how frantic and frenetic people are to get things done.  At first I was telling people to slow down and breathe.  They thought I was nuts.  I was able to focus on one thing at a time, but by the end of the week, it was becoming difficult for me to focus on one thing at a time - you get pulled so many different ways.


This past week I found myself becoming frantic and loosing my concentration.  I made a little sign that reminded me to be present.  To focus. 

View from my window at work.

What I find distracts me the most is having creative thoughts run through my mind.  I guess I'm a day dreamer which makes concentrating on numbers difficult at times.

Today's quote comes from Marilyn vos Savant:  Multi-tasking arises out of distraction itself.

And another quote from Ms. vos Savant:  A good idea will keep you awake during the morning, but a great idea will keep you awake during the night.