Welcome to all of you who are focusing on a word for the year… I hope that your January start helped your settle your feet on the path of your year and even it the path is bumpy now, I know it will smooth out soon! The link up is at the bottom of this post!
January with a new word is always my favorite month of the journey! It is normally a time that I spend looking up definitions of my word and learning about the basics of my word. I also make a bit of a list based on those definitions of where I’d like to go with my word … yes, my ideas of where the word and I will go. Please note, this is generally NOT where the word takes me, but in my nature to control the narrative… I do try.
But…
There is no definition for Yutori in the English language so my beginning was bumpy right from the start. I did, however, find a “definition” on the inter webs:
yu • to • ri (noun) The conscious act of slowing down to allow me to savor the world around me. The refusal to rush. No talking(!!) Just absorbing the world around me with no goal except to look and (most importantly for me) to listen.
Then I wrote down a list of Yutori Ideas that flowed from this rough definition. Things I wanted to explore, try on, perfect… sort of.
The biggest “aha” for me from this list was this:
Stepping away from the urge to multitask.
Yeah… that is a thing I do all.the.time. My life is one long multitask. I am not sure multitasking is a thing I should be proud of and this year, I plan to find out how it feels to NOT multitask anything! To savor a task… for the task itself.
Second to stepping away from multitasking is for me to find comfort in silence. I don’t need “a background noise” all the time… but I always have “a noise” going to fill the silence. Case in point… I can’t just sit and knit quietly, I need to either listen to an audiobook or watch television. Why? I don’t know… perhaps this habit is the result of needing a sound to “drown out” my tinnitus. However, with my hearing aids in, I do not notice the tinnitus at all… so the need for noise is not tied to that.
However, I noted that I do not listen to or watch anything when I am stitching. The stitching is the one activity that my entire brain is engaged with… I can’t listen and remember what I listened to when I stitch. And I love the silence of those minutes of stitching.
My list has a few other things, but my biggest takeaways were these two items. If I can conquer them… I will have achieved something big!
January… it’s a tremulous start, but I will take it!
What about you? How did your January go… was your start rough? Or smooth?
i agree stitching takes concentration. I don’t think I could do a granny square of crochet without something to keep me company. You have had a good start to the year to realise these things.
I’m also guilty of multitasking much of the time, so perhaps it’s a matter of finding those activities — like stitching for you — that require all of our concentration so we’re using our full attention.
While I’ve always failed at OLW, I will follow your journey with interest. I almost always multitask, and while that may have made more sense when I was raising kids and working, neither one is true now, and I have more time. I love to knit, but I almost always do it with an audiobook or the TV. They are background noise and I find myself not paying attention to them so I’m not sure why I do it. I used to nag the kids all the time to do one thing at a time (don’t do homework while chatting with your friends on discord and playing Call of Duty) but can’t seem to follow that advice myself. I’ll give it a try and wish you well with yutori.
I was informed that multi-tasking increases stress levels. However if I am doing mindless stockinette stitch I do love to read my kindle and I do not feel stressed out at all, or so I think.
Great take-aways Kat! I definitely was multi-tasking while working, but now that I am in the dreamland of retirement I find that I don’t do that. You know I do not typically listen to audio books and I find that when I do (like after dinner with Fletch while I am knitting…)I don’t really remember them. Many folks listen to books or podcasts while walking, but I don’t do that either. A) I want to be able to hear if someone is coming up behind me and B) I’d rather listen to the birdsong. But…to each their own I say. What works for some people does not always work for everyone. I love the definition you found for Yutori (what a wonderful word!).
I abandoned multi tasking a few years ago when I read that it actually makes things take longer than just focusing on one task at a time. I do enjoy silence a lot which makes sense given my profession! When I’m home alone I very rarely turn on the television and I really only listen to audiobooks and podcasts in the car. I think knowing that you need your brain to be really engaged in order to appreciate silence is the key to figuring out how to allow more silence into your days.
Your takeaways and your ‘take’ on Yutori are in such harmony here. What a start! If this is ALL a person took from their word, it’d be a rich year. So glad to be on the path with you. Thank you for holding the light.
You are off on an interesting journey with your word. Once I learned an interesting lesson about multitasking. I was an itinerant educator and so in and out of my car during the day. Prior to 9/11, I always listened to two NPR stations. At the same time, my dear Mom was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. Turning off the radio analysis of the terrorist attacks during my work day helped me get through that time. At home, as often as I could I made everyday tasks into a meditation. Doing one thing at a time brought me a lot of peace. For me, there is a difference between frantically multitasking to get things done faster (it rarely works that way) and enjoying an audiobook while knitting. I do like to walk in silence. And as you may gather, I have opinions. Geez. Take care Kat.
I admire your goal of stepping away from multitasking. I keep telling myself to walk without an audiobook, that’s how Mary Oliver did it. And still… I can’t help but see that time as “wasted” — despite 100% knowing that’s not true. So I can’t wait to see how this goes for you in February!
I’m the same – if I’m doing anything I’m listening to a book or podcast. that includes working, although I don’t absorb a lot of what I’m listening to.
the only time I don’t listen is when I’m running. that I do in silence, just listening to my thoughts, or the world around me or whatever song is playing on repeat in my head.