Welcome to the weekly TRCJ — a thread for the Companion community to share the places we’re noticing tension, rest, curiosity, and joy in our daily lives.
My hope is that it’s a valuable resource for us all as we search for goodness in the lives we’ve been given.
This week, I’m feeling tension in the decision not to travel for the next few months.
I’ve known for a couple years now that I needed to scale back my trips. I’ve been testing out ways to shift my business so that I could afford to take the pressure off of my out of town events (the shifts I’ve announced in recent weeks are the culmination of this!). Earlier this year, I realized that if I ever truly wanted to scale back, though, I would have to start by simply saying no.
So, I did. This year I said no to any out-of-town opportunities August through October (save one event I lead every year at Princeton Seminary). I’m grateful for the breathing room made possible by this long stretch, and also feeling some restlessness. Travel has long served as a distraction from unanswered prayers for me, a way to keep moving forward when I don’t see the changes I long for in my everyday rhythms. So I’m sitting with the tension that comes with choosing to stay put and leaning into my as yet unchanging rhythms this late summer/fall.
Two years ago, I started dancing again. I began with a weekly ballet class at a local studio, which I attend every Thursday with a friend. This past spring, I started testing out some jazz and contemporary classes as well.
I recently found a Saturday morning contemporary jazz class that I love; it’s been such a gift to move my body in this way. This long stretch of time at home means I get to attend every week for the next while. Hooray!
I’m not sure my muscles would classify this class as rest, but my mind sure does.
A topic I’ve been curious about lately (and by lately, I mean for several years) is the deep connection between physical health and mental health. In my research on crunchy culture, I’ve been noting the volume of people with chronic health issues that also have histories of trauma. And I’ve long wondered if the anxieties spiked through crunchy culture in turn worsen participants health. For now, these are both based in casual observation—I have no reliable data to make statements on the topic apart from conjecture.
I have had conversations about this curiosity with a few therapist friends of mine, though, including Aundi Kolber—whose books Try Softer and Strong Like Water have been valuable in my own healing. I’ve also noted my own experience with major changes in my body mapping onto breakthroughs in therapy. And most recently, I’ve been reading about the mind-body connection through Internal Family Systems work (my first introduction was through Richard Schwartz’s book No Bad Parts).
If any of you have additional resources I should explore—especially as this relates to crunchy/alternative health culture—I welcome them in the comments!
There’s a family in my neighborhood that I see on an almost daily basis.
We go on walks together through the park; the kids stop by with their babysitter to feed the chickens. We take a single car to the YMCA to work out, and eat many post-workout dinners together too. Sometimes I stay over long enough to read to the kids before bed.
Recently, on a drive home from the Y, the oldest child asked me if I was joining them for dinner that night.
“You can have dinner with us anytime you want,” he cheered.
What’s bringing me joy even more than the open invitation is the fact that this child understands his family’s commitment to hospitality at just 5 years old. He assumes there is always food to share, time to slow down, and an extra seat at the table.
Would that we all understood hospitality as simply as him.
What about you? Where are you feeling tension? What’s bringing you rest? Who has sparked your curiosity? When have you experienced joy?
Share your answers in the comments below!
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