Hourglass meets lava lamp.
That image captures how I’ve been experiencing the world these past few weeks. According to google, nobody has invented such a contraption, yet. But imagine the hourglass inside the lamp–see the grains of sand streaming down as iridescent blobs burble around?!
Thinks of it as two new time zones being added beyond Central, Mountain, and Pacific. Not linear zones–think 3D. On the inside is a deluge of information–ever-present and ever-increasing to the point of incessancy. The outer zone is a slowing and morphing–days bumping into one another and even rolling backward. For the pockets of slowing, I am so grateful. (We’ve had more family meals in the past few weeks than we’ve had in months.) For the incessant deluge of news, I am not. But I’ve found a way to manage my racing heart after reading too much.
I turn to my kids, and say (truth be told, I holler): “OUTSIDE! Everybody, we’re going out in five!” This declaration is followed by pushback. And I push on: “Let’s go. Move it, people!” And out we go. (Ok, I’ll admit that having a dog helps.) Thanks to Stay Home, Stay Safe, we have no agenda but to get outside and mess around in the backyard, rolling back time to when my three teenagers were younger.
But sometimes just messin’ around is not enough for my racing heart. I need to make a more intentional effort to slow it down. As in, making time to stop the sand from falling so fast–instead channeling the lava lamp.
If you’ve ever gone with me messin’ around outdoors, you know one of my go-to favorites is 60 Seconds of Silence. Kid you not, this one works with kids of all ages–anywhere, anytime, anyplace. You just need to be bold enough to set the stage so that everybody can settle in. And settle in they do, because turns out teenagers need it too. We all need the lava lamp in our lives, and we need it now more than ever before. Last time we channeled the laval lamp, we actually set the timer for five minutes instead of just one…
Go on, get out there, and try it!
-Molly
