I’m curious if the rhythm of your life feels syncopated, synchronized or out of sync right now. How much of it is dictated by forces and people outside of yourself?
I am currently in Barcelona. It’s lovely, but I’ve been struggling to detect the rhythm of the city in my few days here. Stores seem to be open at random hours, but mostly closed. People order seafood and drink beer and Coke at breakfast time, but sometimes coffee. They eat dinner very late, but the food at 9 p.m. seems no different from the late afternoon snacks. These patterns are partly cultural, but are also overlaid with a recent regional holiday, the habits of thousands of international tourists and a high percentage of COVID closures.
At the same time, I have enjoyed these days where I can set my own rhythm from morning ‘til night, and I honestly don’t remember the last time that happened. It’s taking me some time to discern my preferences. How late will I choose to sleep? How active will I choose to be? How much work feels just right? What do I most want to eat and when?
Last week at the AQai Summit in France, we had time for conversations to meander, much as I have been doing over these past few days. Work rhythms came up fairly frequently, in topics ranging from “workcations” to hybrid meetings to dispersed teams to being a digital nomad. People went deep quickly.
One thing we learned came from the Global Resilience Report. It identifies “sleep” and “relaxation” as two of the top determining factors in boosting our resilience. Ouf!
I’m left with an enormous sense of privilege. Very few people get to choose their rhythms, to experience those of other places, to help set a work cadence for other people, or perhaps even to choose to relax. If that’s you, choose wisely. And if it doesn’t feel like you, maybe you have more choice over some of your rhythms than you think. Optimizing for relaxing and restful might be what’s most needed right now.
I’ll be taking a break from the blog over the summer, writing just occasionally to keep you updated on my progress on my new book and/or when inspiration strikes that I think you’d appreciate. I’ll look forward to reconnecting more regularly in September. In the meantime, you are most welcome to keep in touch directly and Laurie is available to put things on our calendars for the fall, as we are currently booking into November.
Wishing you moments when the rhythm feels just right!
