May at CSLDallas

Creating a New Normal

Months ago we had settled on a theme for May to take up the spiritual practices of simplicity, mindfulness, and decluttering as a way of slowing ourselves down and prioritizing the things that are truly important to us.Then came Covid-19 and shelter-in-place. Everything changed, people are either out of a job or working from home or on the front lines as first responders, grocery clerks, delivery people, health care professionals and the like. For some life has slowed down and for others it’s gotten more hectic or more stressed.

Most of us have been living lives that are as stressed and cluttered with activities, devices, obligations and shopping as our closets are cluttered with stuff. Do you ever wonder how it all got so out of control? We barely have time to take a breath, our schedules are chaotic and overcommitted, leaving us so stressed that we are numb, yet we wonder why we cannot fall asleep at night.

Perhaps sheltering-in-place and the Covid-19 pandemic has really allowed us to look at all of this in a new way. For many of us, our inability to find the time to do what we want to do has come to a grinding halt. Now that it has, maybe we can now take our lives up differently. For many people it seems that priorities have sifted and what’s important has become more evident. Time to connect, reflect, be with oneself, and time in nature have provided a new spaciousness. Moving everything online and recreating work and family has invited innovation, learning, creativity forcing us out of old patterns and unconscious habits and into creativity and new ways of being and doing.

Rather than hoping that things “return to normal” we have the opportunity to create a new normal for ourselves, our families, and our communities. This new normal, consciously built and engaged in, may actually result in more fulfilling, meaningful, connected lives. This is our topic and exploration the entire month of May. What riches can we find in all the chaos? What newness do we want to embed into our lives going forward? How to keep a saner pace that makes people and the environment and equal priority to making money and doing our jobs. What spaciousness and new routines do we want to take with us as we move into a new normal? What spiritual principles, insights and tools will help us get there?

In support of this month’s theme we are using a gorgeous book: The Not So Big Life: Making Room for What Really Matters by Sarah Susanka. She uses her insight from architecture and home remodeling as the perfect metaphor to help us open up and recreate our own lives. This is the perfect guide as we decide how to move into our new lives, leaving out what no longer serves, and creating light and space for the life we crave.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Not So Big Life: Making Room for What Really Matters

by Sarah Susanka

In The Not So Big Life, Susanka takes her revolutionary philosophy from architecture and home remodeling to another dimension by showing us a new way to inhabit our lives and to our surprise we find how effortless and rewarding this change can be. The real joy of leading a not so big life is discovering that the life we love has been there the entire time. Through simple exercises and inspiring stories, Susanka shows us that all we need to do is make small shifts in our day–subtle movements that open our minds as if we were finally opening the windows to let in fresh air.

The Not So Big Life reveals that form and function serve not only architectural aims but life goals as well. Just as we can tear down interior walls to reveal space, we can tear down our fears and assumptions to open up new possibilities. The result is that we quickly discover we have all the space and time we need for the things in our lives that really matter. But perhaps the greatest reward is the discovery that small changes can yield enormous results. In her elegant, clear style, Susanka convinces us that less truly is more–much more.

We have this book available for fast delivery. Please reach out to Bee Bee Gafoor at: officemanager@csldallas.org to get your copy today.

CSLDallas

SPECIAL EVENTS

Stay Connected