On Tuesday morning, I was speaking with a member of our church, and she said, “I’m on mouse power today”. I didn’t know at first what she meant. She went on to say, “I cannot find the energy to run the rat race today, so I am on mouse power.”
Mouse power. I love it!
Summer affords many of us an opportunity to slow our lives down, even if slightly. In Canada at least, it seems like we gear down for July and August. Schools close. Sometimes our programs take the summer off. Businesses that go full tilt through the year slide into “summer hours.” It is as if in our country, where summers are so short, we are all being encouraged to embrace “mouse power”.
Self-care is not a new idea, but it is something that many of us forget about. The rat race can be difficult to step away from. Even if we are retired, our calendars can spill over with activities, responsibilities and expectations that make us wonder if we ever actually stopped working. How often I have heard it said, “I am retired, and I’m busier than ever!”
Don’t get me wrong, it’s so important to have a purpose, and to have goals and dreams and something to work towards. Nothing ages the soul like apathy or complacency. But sometimes we can lose ourselves in our tasks or start to define ourselves by what we do, as if we are the sum total of our achievements. In the ancient Sufi tradition, it was believed that the ego (Nafs) and the soul (Ruh) are meant to be together, but often the ego is pulled away by worldly distractions, leaving the soul constantly chasing after it, longing for union and harmony again. If you are feeling anxious or stressed out, perhaps your soul is trying to catch up to you. Try to sit for a bit and let it find you.
Even in our faith tradition, we can focus more on “doing” than on “being”. We define the Christian life as one of action (doing for others, giving generously, going to church, reading scripture) and forget that we are also called to “be still in the presence of God.”
Years ago, I spent a spring and summer on PEI in a small, rural community. I was learning how to be a minister. The year was 1991, and the debate was raging on the island over whether to build a bridge. Tensions on both sides were high. My supervisor advised me to stay out of it, and I did. But one woman whom I went to visit had what I thought was one of the best arguments against building a bridge. She said to me, “we need the ferry so that people coming over can spend an hour relaxing into the PEI pace of life.” What a great thing to say. It makes me wonder if the bridge took that away or not.
The writer Anne Lamott once said this, “almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
I hope this summer you are finding opportunities to embrace MOUSE POWER. This beautiful world that God has given us invites us to take our time and enjoy and appreciate it. The rats can race. For now, at least, be a mouse!!
