I'm working on my writing this is long. If you read it Id lo..

I'm working on my writing this is long. If you read it Id love your thoughts. I've written it for a client but I have adapted a few sentences just for the OF creator and audience. Do you ever feel like you’re just rolling the rock uphill? As I face that huge Holiday to-do list of things-that-have-to-be-done, I’ve been thinking about Sisyphus. For those of you not UP on your Greek mythology, Sisyphus, a mortal in Greek mythology, who offended the gods and was punished by being condemned to roll a rock uphill for eternity. Each time Sisyphus reached the top of the hill with his rock, its weight would send it cascading back down the hill. The myth demonstrated man’s existential plight, and the absurdity of having to do work that is futile, day in and day out. I hear a lot of creators espousing this lately feeling like they are overwhelmed with family, real world work, OF custom requests and live event requests. No matter how hard they try, the boulder rolls back down the hill. A friend of mine offered me a different take on the matter. She often travels to great and beautiful cities for work and pleasure. She said that there is so much to see and do in these cities, that eventually she realized she would never get to do it all and get her work done. So eventually she got used to knowing all that she does is just a dot compared to all the stuff she didn't get to do. That's when the lightbulb went off! I saw that I had been believing that I should get it all done. It was as if my life was constructed around a huge game called “accomplishing all there is to do.” But I had forgotten that I’d chosen the game. Maybe there’s a different game out there called “it will never be done and much of what lies ahead of me will never get finished.” Sure, there are responsibilities in life, like mine to my family and clients, that have to get done; I am accountable for managing these. There are consequences for not doing some things. Yet I’m the one who chose many of the obligations on this man-made mountain I have chosen to climb. Awareness may be the first step in recovery. But I still need strategies that can help me navigate the world before me. I’m experimenting with these. Tell me what you think. *Stop and smell the roses* Checking into my here-and-now sensory experience, helps me bypass my mind’s diagnosis of “there is too much to do.” *Get some perspective* Have you ever been sick, really sick, when even doing the simplest task seems out of reach? When I’ve been hit by sickness or hurt in an accident, one of the insights I’ve received has been to watch the list of what I expect from myself miraculously shrink. When I am able to leave my bed, I delight in what I can do, such as walk without pain and make my first cup of coffee In the face of all that I can’t I do. I want to remember that perspective, that gratitude, as I get swept back into the rhythm of regular life. *Track your real accomplishments* On the surface, this can seem like returning to the land of the ever-present to-do list, checking things off the list, and watching how new items magically spring up to replace what you’ve checked off. But I’m talking about a different kind of reflection.We all keep lists, but I chose to pause a moment, reflect, and record what I accomplished that matters most to me. Yesterday, my biggest accomplishment was being available. First - A family friend reached out to me and told me he had written a play and he would love it if I could attend. So I made time. Second - I was there for a friend. Even if it meant a 4 hr round trip drive and then waking up at 3am so they had someone to talk to while they were driving. I have friends who do that for me and it felt good to be able to be there for others. Taking a moment today to record this was very satisfying, a glimmer of meaning I could take from my weekend. *Meditate* This is a longer-term strategy, so I won’t write about it here, although I know it’s the door into a way of being that is not dependent on the world becoming fixed, ordered, or behaving as it should. In closing, the author Camus wrote an essay ending with Sisyphus accepting his fate and the absurdity of his work, finding, within his choice, the possibility of happiness. I think that accepting that parts of our life may always seem a bit futile, absurd, and at times overwhelming, seems like good consuel.