It happened again. I got a big project done. Not big by most standards, but it’s the test of a communication project for work. If it works, it will help us. And it was on my “by the end of the month” list and it was at the top of my “get it done today” list.
And at the end of a long day I hit send on the email.
And I walked down the hall.
And I walked back toward my office and thought, “what will be in the next edition?”
No break, no rest, no celebration. Just on to the next one.
And even when I stopped that train, I started thinking about the posts I could be writing tonight. Or the other things on the list. Or….
I understand all the work we have to get done. I understand that you have way more than I do. I understand that you have so much to get done before ____.
But you know, when we get stuff done, we need to be glad, to be relieved, to take more than a minute.
So I’m going to hit publish and go sing. And later? Make some tea. Or some other ritual.
Because we need breaks, too.
Right?
Thanks for stopping by. I used to write here. But I don't anymore. 
Levite Chronicles 
And sometimes we collapse and rest, but without any mindful recognition of completion, of recharging.
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which is our body saying, “i’ll take care of you. But somewhere, I think, after that, we can benefit from an asset to, “yep. Made it.”
I’m with ya, Jon! We DO need a definitive point where we can look back and see that “it’s over”. Having some sort of ritual like a cup of tea, or perhaps an ice cream cone (filled with Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream, of course) gives our brains a tangible marker.
Hey, God’s people always were big on markers back in the Old Testament, weren’t they? So why not us?
Maybe we should all keep a little jar of pebbles at our workplaces…I’m definitely in agreement with Robert’s ice cream cones!
blue bell. There is no finer ice cream in the world, and, alas, we only knew it for our three years in Austin. It doesn’t exist in the north.
Just this week, I wrote on a note to someone, “this is your ebenezer”, a name more often associated with Scrooge than with its use as a marker to say, up to say, “up to this point, God has helped us.”
pebbles, ice cream, photos sent to people to remind them of big events, tea, anything else?
My break was reading this post and commenting.
Not as exciting as Blue Bell. But I’d say Godiva chocolate ice cream trumps Blue Bell.
hey Paul, thanks!
Wait, my post isn’t as exciting as blue bell? commenting isn’t?
um…
one yr i chaired 15 events for a local grammar school who was celebrating it’s centennial – I experienced myself as a what’s next machine with very little pause – i know that the events were significant for the school but at the end of it, and when there were no more what’s next – it felt a little empty to me
Hey Karen
I did a Centennial for our church three years ago. I remember the feeling of collapse when it started and my work, at least the bulk of it, was done. empty. Yep.
And in a celebration!