Breaking the Momentum of Silence

In my previous post I "proclaimed" to everyone that I'm going to resume blogging. A little more than a month later, I still have to deliver on that promise. Well, this post is supposed to break the momentum of silence.

A Daddy must learn to Stop, Look and Listen ... at the Dining Table.

You see, I have some topics laid out. I have them on a spreadsheet. Then I added columns into this spreadsheet that identify all the other details I want for each topic - key points, keywords, bla bla bla. Then I got stuck.

That's what happens when you plan too much. I've been told, and my personal experience affirms so, that, to start something, just start. Of course, you need to plan. But experts usually say, a napkin planning often is enough.

That's the lesson that I need to relearn. I know I'm not alone in that space.

So, going to breaking the momentum of silence, let me talk a bit about how I've managed my time recently. With so many things to do, I reckoned that I also needed to allocate time to not do anything and just be a sponge - absorbing everything around and just letting them soak you. Can you relate?

Well, here's how that works. This is scenario 1. I'm in the middle of work. Then my wife says, "Time for Lunch!" If you know me, I'd rather skip lunch than break the momentum of my work. But then you see, that's exactly where a lot of relationship problems breed. So, I close my eyes, tell my mind, "Stop. Stand up. Walk to the dining table. Breath, gaze and listen."

That's when I get to appreciate more the presence of my family around me, which is the reason why I dreamed of working at home to begin with. That's when I get to really hear what they're saying, the tone of their voices, the sound of the utensils hitting the plate, etc - the "moment". When you're in that moment, your left brain freezes while your right brain sings.

Scenario 2. Reading aloud. We don't do that after primary school, right? Wrong. When you're a Dad, you do that to your kids. Now, I used to think doing that while they were still in the womb or when they were still infants was enough. In the recent homeschooling conference, I realized it wasn't. Nobody, the speaker seemed to say, could outgrow the father's voice reading to them before sleeping.

So, I went back to doing that lately. My kids loved it. They looked forward to it. The other side of me protested, "This is the time we are supposed to do late night work! What are you doing?????" To that voice, I just say, "Get used to it, Buddy!"