Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Accidental structure vs mindful structure

I think a lot about structure and how I yearn/fear to structure our day. I had been feeling torn, because right now we don't have any structure and that is nice, but having structure has it's merits. And then I realized: we already HAVE a structure. We get up, eat breakfast, I check the computer (look for work, read emails, play a turn on scrabble on facebook...darn you for getting me hooked on scrabble!! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) play some, eat lunch, wander around feeling like we need more structure (or maybe less... can you tell that afternoons are the hardest for me?), wait for my partner to get home from work, eat dinner, play, read, go to bed (Pablo, not us), watch TV and try to complete the bazillion projects I have for xmas, collapse. See? Routine. aka STRUCTURE.

I had been thinking that we had no structure because it wasn't written down on paper, predetermined. But we have gotten into a habit (dare I say rut?) of doing pretty much all the same things at pretty much the same time every day. Some of it is very functional for us, but some is just a rut, and needs to be mindfully modified.

I generally resist structure because I don't want to live in timed boxes. But a mindfully chosen routine would make a big impact. I think the key is how fluid it is. How open to change it is. And, how (get ready for the judgement term) PRODUCTIVE it is. I know we could do certain things (like yoga, and dare I say, meditation?) if we thought about the best time to fit them into our day.

So for the next few days I will be looking into this whole structure business. Watching the day to see what works and what doesn't. Any time spent playing with the kids does. Playing so much Scrabble probably doesn't.... phooey.

3 comments:

  1. I always find that structure equals freedom. All truth is a paradox.

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  2. Well Scrabble does work as n intellectual gymnastic, which is good for memory... See all things before to take anything off the "working" list. =)
    Friendly,
    Julia

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  3. I find that you and I are so frequently facing the same challenges when I read your posts. Ive considered writing down a schedule just to try and get more done, but I never get around to writing it.

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