Breathe In, Breathe Out
Peasant Times-Dispatch Issue 14
Hello Again!
Dear Readers,
Before I get into todays issue of the Peasant Times-Dispatch, we’ve got a couple new things begun, and more on the way!
brought us the first issue of Prove All Things, his series where he shares entertainment he has ‘proven’ for his young family. The reception of this series has been heartening, and I think I can speak for Hambone when I say he is excited to bring more of this out for you!I also began Season 2 of the podcast, The Peasant’s Apprentice which will be a regular feature going forward as well! I had a lot of fun recording it and sharing my thoughts and I appreciate all of you who have left such wonderful feedback.
Thank you as always for reading and joining us every month!
Today’s Issue Is Late
If you are a close follower of the Peasant Times-Dispatch, you’ll have noticed that the monthly Edition usually comes out on the 15th at 11am Eastern time. We’ve blown WAY past that. I had an idea for an article I was going to write, but things have been busy and I haven’t really caught my breath. As I was contemplating what I was going to write, I decided to just lean into it, let’s explore this space of ‘lateness’ and try to look at it with Peasantly eyes.
I’ll be honest—I have been living in a kind of elevated and overwhelmed state for a few months now. For work, I spend two weeks out of every month closing the books, and the other two weeks trying to catch up on a host of projects that I can’t work on while we’re closing the books. I moved in September, so I’ve got a host of administrivia associated with moving (change drivers license, change plate registration, change address on everything)—I’ve got unpacking to do.
Please don’t construe this as complaining! Everyone is busy—we all have our unique responsibilities. If you talk to anyone you encounter online and you wheedle them for a story about their life, they probably have heavy burdens they carry too. This is not so much to equivocate and say “everyone has problems so buck up and deal with it” but rather this is a recognition that getting through the day can be HARD. For everyone! We should go easy on each other and ourselves. Sometimes things don’t go the way we want them to, sometimes we have to adjust on the fly. Sometimes our bodies don’t cooperate with us. Sometimes our Substack publication goes out a few hours late.
This is a call to say: That’s Ok.
Do It With Kindness
One of the reasons
and I are good friends is because our minds are similar in important ways and different in important ways. When we would work on team projects in college, Hambone was very much an idea man and I was very much a push-push-push go-go-go ‘doer’ kind of person. When I stumble, historically I can be very hard on myself. A phrase Hambone has used to remind me of things when I am reaching for my goals is to ‘Do it with kindness’.What this means is that—whatever goal you have, you can get there in one of two ways: You can get there by pushing and being hard on yourself, cracking the metaphorical whip, not giving yourself any rest whatsoever; or you can get there with kindness, positivity, and trying to cultivate good and healthy habits. The thing about goals is that they don’t move. You can take a long time or a short time and you’ll still get there. Putting unnecessary pressure on yourself can be a burden: if you can’t live nicely with yourself, life will seem very unpleasant indeed.
As peasants, we have a twofold responsibility to indeed work, to take our responsibilities seriously, to “keep going” as I described in the recent podcast. But also—to be gentle as our Father in Heaven is gentle. I don’t know about you but I vacillate wildly between these mindsets, and I am only just now understanding myself enough to know how to level out and ‘even my keel’ so to speak.
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Something I mentioned very briefly in the Podcast is that way may need to take a pause from whatever we’re working on to gather ourselves, but then we must get back to it. This pause to collect ourselves is very important.
This is where we gather our thoughts, take a deep breathe, try to restore our mindset, our attitude—try to recall our Loving and also Laboring Lord. Fill our lungs with life giving air and blow away all the thoughts that keep us from a joyful labor. None of us is perfect—none of us really knows the way. We are all doing our best, and one of the ways we do our best is by giving ourselves permission to stop, recollect, breathe, and move forward.
Permission Granted
Take this post as permission to close your eyes and take five good full deep breaths, wherever you are and whatever you are doing. With each breathe in, try to fill yourself with the love of God; with each breathe out try to send away any unnecessary pressure you are putting upon yourself.
What are you working on that you could use some prayer and support? What projects weigh on you? Share in the comments so we can pray for you and lift you up. If you don’t have any major projects, or don’t feel like sharing right now, help support others by praying for them and showing them some support today!
Let’s be kind to ourselves today, and remember to give ourselves permission to breathe when we are getting overwhelmed.
Thank you for reading! God bless you all!
Ad Jesum Per Mariam
"Hambone is more of an idea man," is this code for lazy? How dare you!?
My word for the year is "exhale," so thank you for the reminder to breathe in and breathe out.
If you could pray for yours truly to have a deeper conversion, I would appreciate it. I'll keep you and the lazy one in my prayers as well.
I'm kidding, Hambone is not lazy, he just has four kids. I know how it is.
Awesome word, Scoot. Been running a bit myself with the perennial to do list. Encouraging, thank you!