Lately, I’ve found myself feeling rushed. As a final year university student, with a job and a half – that half being everything to do with this blog – pressure may seem inevitable, but I must clarify there is a difference between pressure and rush.
What I mean are the day-to-day things; I feel rushed when I make dinner and when I shower, when I do my hair and when I talk to people. Even when I sleep, I feel the rush of tomorrow – and I can never seem to fall asleep fast enough.
I think of the world as it is, and how efficient humans have made everything: I blame the railroad. Certain things are meant to take time, and I believe, though convenient, things such as trains, planes, hairdryers and coffee machines have become a catalyst for devaluing the idea of enriching your soul.
Efficiency has masked the concept of simplicity and how human that is. I find myself wanting to slow things down, in fact, I yearn for it. I quite like the idea of doing things to enrich your soul as opposed to getting them out of the way, or worse, doing them to prove something. Living cannot be rushed.
Finding simplicity in these tasks and how they add value to your being, means realising they were never inconveniences. My hair made me realise this. As a child, getting my hair done was a lot. Because what it entailed was visiting something of a family friend in her salon-converted-shed in Exeter.
When I got cornrow braids, I spent at least 5 hours in that damn spinney chair thinking it would be so much easier to cut off all my hair and be done with it. I didn’t see the value of taking the time to make something beautiful. And I’m not overstating how long mixed-race hair takes to do. Although I don’t think I could tell the time at that age yet, I know for a fact that when I stepped into that shed it was broad daylight, and when I stepped out it was dark; I swear I heard an owl and all.
What I’m saying is, you deserve to slow it all down if that’s what the task requires; the time and dedication you put into things is non-negotiable when it comes to aiding the quality of your soul. There is reason behind why certain things, especially things that represent you or your craft, take longer than other things – developing your soul was never a quick process, it requires the patience of a lifetime. Considering that, I believe removing the rush is the human touch this world really needs, and the most human you could ever be.