I know a lot about environment. It’s my “office” every day. I write about it, speak about it, live it. But this week during the Parisian heatwave, I got a firsthand taste of what really being in my environment felt like, in a way that I hadn’t before.
When temperatures are in the triple digits and you’re living in an environment you can’t control, it’s a really good thermometer for your life. The environment that you can control becomes even more apparent and shows you what you may or may not be doing well, according to the most important person: YOU.
I am currently living through a second heatwave in Paris. This one has been over a week long and when the uncontrollable environmental factors are present, in this case – extreme temperatures, rare or non-existent AC, very old buildings and lack of elevators – the everyday things that would normally be fine in my daily life, suddenly become much more apparent.
What I’m focusing on here are the environmental factors that we CAN control. When the environmental factors we can’t control get loud, the environmental factors that we can control get even louder, but only if we want to hear them.
I’m not going to lie. I’ve spent the majority of this heatwave moving at a snail’s pace. As NYC runs in my veins, it was first a mystery as to why I was feeling so lethargic and unfocused. Then it turned into surprising anger.
- Why am I sooo tired?
- Why can’t I get motivated?
- Why is everything bugging the crap out of me?
Then thankfully, it turned into compassion.
- Oh… it’s hot.
- I better lie down.
- Oh, I’ve been in the heat for a couple of hours.
- Maybe I should hop in the shower again even though it’s only 2:30 in the afternoon.
- Why is my place such a wreck?
- Oh right…it’s too hot to move.
As I was sitting immobile on my couch, I looked around and started thinking:
- Gosh, that bag has been sitting there forever.
- I really need to take that to Goodwill when the heat breaks.
- Ah… my poor plants need more water.
- Thank goodness I have them around me. They make me happy.
- The wall art needs to be framed.
- Or actually…I think I want to treat that wall differently. Maybe wallpaper?
Everything around me got louder.
I had less energy, was literally stuck to my couch and was somehow given this little hidden opportunity to observe my life. I was able to practice living, slowly and deliberately in my full and complete environment.
I can imagine this is what it feels like when someone is recovering from surgery, on maternity leave, on the tail end of burn-out. Life suddenly slows down enough so that your environment becomes impossible to ignore.
I think most of us move through our homes on autopilot. We rush from one thing to the next and stop seeing what’s right in front of us. But when life slows us down, whether by choice or not, our environment suddenly has a chance to speak a little louder.
Don’t wait until you get sick, or for a heatwave to slow down and really take in your environment. Sit down for longer than you normally would and just observe.
- What do you see?
- How does it make you feel?
- What do you feel like doing?
- Who do you want to be surrounded by?
- Do you like your environment as it currently is? (including the people around you!)
And perhaps the most important question: what is your environment trying to tell you?
