Life as a Non-Adrenaline Junky

Rush, rush, rush - that's how life use to be. My street-cred and self-worth were metered on how much I was doing, where and with whom. But over the past year I've been releasing layers of projects and commitments and I am finally down to the essentials - teaching, learning, adventuring.

What's left is unfamiliar - time, calm and spaciousness. Am I getting lazy? Have I lost my ambition? Have I quited my competitive edge? Is there life without drama? The change makes me think about the class lessons I teach on introversion and extroversion and how it ties to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

All the yoga I practice, five to six days a week, builds body, mind and breath awareness. I'm more attuned to "what is going on within me" and also more sensitized to what is going on for others. The intensity of teaching, managing the classroom, engaging the participants - is balanced with time on my own. For every hour I teach, it seems I thrive on just as much time to myself.

Interestingly, I do not savor all of this quietness - it is too new. With this spaciousness I crave community, my "third place". My inclination is to join a Board of Directors but I really do not desire more work. For me community has always been around projects where we "get things done" and have meetings were we convey our urgency.

Are there other ways to build community? That seems to be the question in this my Year of Connection. 

Photo from Tent Rocks in Santa Fe.