The Grand Pause of Summer
David and Jeannine Jordan
Claude Debussy, the famous French composer, said, “Music is the silence between the notes.”
In music notation, the caesura or grand pause indicates a brief, silent pause, during which time is not counted. In ensemble playing, time resumes when so indicated by the conductor or leader.
We as musicians have an advantage of understanding the need for pauses. Pauses make music better, more dramatic, more fulfilling... hmm... kind of like life. In life, we sometimes don’t take pauses like we need to, but at least as musicians we understand the need for it. Pauses are not optional in music and aren't optional in life either.
We recently learned of a "new thing” called The Slow Movement. The Slow Movement does not espouse doing things at a snail’s pace, but instead being fully immersed in the moment.
It seems psychologists are starting to think that we need to slow down a little, since we have the highest percentage of depression in the world. Slowing down, though, has a negative connotation to it. So instead of slowing down, we get caught up in trying to go faster…frankly to the breaking point.
"A high speed lifestyle is like a drug. It’s where we’re in the fight-or-flight mode. It changes the chemistry of the body and brain. We become stress junkies. It’s moments of silence that can open up all kinds of doors. You’ll get, ironically, the fast pay-off of the enjoyment, the recharging, and the replenishing of having a slow moment." Carl Honore’
When people enjoy something they try to make it last as long as possible.
“Now and then it’s good to pause in your pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”
From a CNN interview
Dr. Matthew Sleeth is a former emergency room physician. He's also the author of "24/6: A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life."
CNN: You begin your book by writing about a store owner who vowed to close his store on Sundays, so his employees and their families, as well as his customers, could take the day off. But it didn't stay that way for long. What happened?
Sleeth: For almost 2,000 years, Western culture stopped -- primarily on Sunday -- for about 24 hours. Even when I was a child, you couldn't buy gasoline, you couldn't buy milk. The drugstores weren't open. The only thing that was open was a hospital. Even in dairy farming country, we would milk cows, but we wouldn't bring in hay. And so society just had a day where they put it in park. (That) was Sunday... until the last 30 years or so.
CNN: Why do you think taking one day off a week is so important?
Sleeth: We go 24/7 now, and I think it's having health consequences. I think more and more, there's a consensus that it leads to depression and anxiety. It's interesting, when a doctor sits down and does a primary intake with a new patient, they ask about smoking, exercise and diet, but they don't ask how much you're working. They don't get any sense of if you're working seven days a week, or if you have time set aside -- like people have always had -- for rest.
I think the lack of rest is reflected in our saying, "We don't have enough time." I think it's pretty much generally felt that we don't have enough time to really get to the things we want to do in life.
CNN: You write about incorporating a "stop day" into your weekly schedule. How do you think that can extend and enrich your life?
Sleeth: A "stop day" is a day you really cease from your labors. This really comes in Western cultures from the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment tells us to remember the Sabbath. The word "Sabbath" simply means "to cease" -- to cease from your labors.
Now, the definition of labor has changed over the centuries and the millennia. For some people, resting from their labors might mean resting from their sedentary job that they have, putting on tennis shoes and going for a run. For those who work physically, that would mean coming to rest.
In the book "24/6," I don't try to define what rest is for a person, but I ask you to figure out what work is for you, and don't do it one day out of the week.
CNN: You go as far as to say that going full-throttle 24/7 is an illness. How do you recognize the signs?
Sleeth: I find that there's a growing epidemic, really, of depression. We're the most depressed country in the world.
CNN: You also say this mantra has made a big difference in your own life -- for you as well as your family. How so?
Sleeth: My family and I adopted this about a decade ago. My children were in high school, and they went through high school, college -- and my son even through medical school -- keeping one day of rest, where they didn't study.
They got their work done in advance. I think it actually helps you to order your life, because in preparing for that day of rest, you... actually get more things done on the six days that you are working.
So for our family, we took it very seriously. My kids really became the guardians of it when they lived at home, and they really wanted to see it happen. I think it actually helped us as a family.
I have many people that I've talked to now that have said that keeping one day of rest a week has been the single best thing they've done for their marriage, their family and their spiritual relationship.
********************
Take a Pause Before It is Necessary
Pausing restores perspective.
An elementary school principal has learned that, to regain her equilibrium after a challenging or upsetting experience, she needs to "...go and sit in the grade three classroom for a while and just see the goodness of kids and get rid of the bad scene that just happened."
Pausing brings insight.
Pausing gives access to answers buried in the noise and commotion of everyday life. I recently quizzed a handful of colleagues about the pros and cons of a contract offer. One finally counseled, "You've got all the information there is to be had. If you'll just be quiet with yourself, you'll know what to do." I was, and I did.
Pausing makes room for learning.
Learning leads to improvement. The U.S. Army follows each maneuver with a pause for an After Action Review. In the break from the action, they address three questions. What went well? Where did we mess up? What did we learn for next time? If you find yourself making the same mistakes over and over, a pause for an AAR could break the cycle.
Pausing sustains spirit, productivity and quality.
"You can't just burn people out," says a marketing vice president. "When you have a high priority, sprint as fast as you can. When it's not urgent or critical, take a pause. If you work 20 hours a day, your product will be crap."
Pausing carves out space for relationship.
If the only way I can get your attention is to scramble along beside you as you run your next race, I may not be there long. Relationships are neither built nor maintained on schedule at high speed.
They take time and space to evolve and mature.
Like a concert of all scherzo pieces who would lose it first the organist or the audience?
Pausing minimizes regret.
If your tongue is razor sharp and fast, words spoken in haste could cut another to the core. A pause between a thought and a comment could mean the difference between keeping friends and making amends.
Pausing promotes creative thought.
A writer observes, "Creative people have a talent for doing nothing. Sir Isaac Newton wasn't running around with a clipboard and beeper when he discovered the law of gravity, but sitting under a tree, watching an apple fall."
Pausing conserves energy.
A professional tennis coach counsels his players to give it their all when the ball is in play. However, as soon as the ball goes dead, during that walk back to their starting positions, they are to slow their breathing, quiet their movements, and still their minds. This conserves and rebuilds energy for the next demanding exchange.
Pauses come in all shapes and sizes.
A two minute break in the midst of a task. A short walk at lunch. An afternoon of 'do nothing' puttering. A long weekend at the cabin. A three week vacation in the mountains. A six month sabbatical.
What do pauses have in common?
© 2005 Patricia Katz, Optimus Consulting
David and Jeannine Jordan
Claude Debussy, the famous French composer, said, “Music is the silence between the notes.”
In music notation, the caesura or grand pause indicates a brief, silent pause, during which time is not counted. In ensemble playing, time resumes when so indicated by the conductor or leader.
We as musicians have an advantage of understanding the need for pauses. Pauses make music better, more dramatic, more fulfilling... hmm... kind of like life. In life, we sometimes don’t take pauses like we need to, but at least as musicians we understand the need for it. Pauses are not optional in music and aren't optional in life either.
We recently learned of a "new thing” called The Slow Movement. The Slow Movement does not espouse doing things at a snail’s pace, but instead being fully immersed in the moment.
It seems psychologists are starting to think that we need to slow down a little, since we have the highest percentage of depression in the world. Slowing down, though, has a negative connotation to it. So instead of slowing down, we get caught up in trying to go faster…frankly to the breaking point.
"A high speed lifestyle is like a drug. It’s where we’re in the fight-or-flight mode. It changes the chemistry of the body and brain. We become stress junkies. It’s moments of silence that can open up all kinds of doors. You’ll get, ironically, the fast pay-off of the enjoyment, the recharging, and the replenishing of having a slow moment." Carl Honore’
When people enjoy something they try to make it last as long as possible.
“Now and then it’s good to pause in your pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”
From a CNN interview
Dr. Matthew Sleeth is a former emergency room physician. He's also the author of "24/6: A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life."
CNN: You begin your book by writing about a store owner who vowed to close his store on Sundays, so his employees and their families, as well as his customers, could take the day off. But it didn't stay that way for long. What happened?
Sleeth: For almost 2,000 years, Western culture stopped -- primarily on Sunday -- for about 24 hours. Even when I was a child, you couldn't buy gasoline, you couldn't buy milk. The drugstores weren't open. The only thing that was open was a hospital. Even in dairy farming country, we would milk cows, but we wouldn't bring in hay. And so society just had a day where they put it in park. (That) was Sunday... until the last 30 years or so.
CNN: Why do you think taking one day off a week is so important?
Sleeth: We go 24/7 now, and I think it's having health consequences. I think more and more, there's a consensus that it leads to depression and anxiety. It's interesting, when a doctor sits down and does a primary intake with a new patient, they ask about smoking, exercise and diet, but they don't ask how much you're working. They don't get any sense of if you're working seven days a week, or if you have time set aside -- like people have always had -- for rest.
I think the lack of rest is reflected in our saying, "We don't have enough time." I think it's pretty much generally felt that we don't have enough time to really get to the things we want to do in life.
CNN: You write about incorporating a "stop day" into your weekly schedule. How do you think that can extend and enrich your life?
Sleeth: A "stop day" is a day you really cease from your labors. This really comes in Western cultures from the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment tells us to remember the Sabbath. The word "Sabbath" simply means "to cease" -- to cease from your labors.
Now, the definition of labor has changed over the centuries and the millennia. For some people, resting from their labors might mean resting from their sedentary job that they have, putting on tennis shoes and going for a run. For those who work physically, that would mean coming to rest.
In the book "24/6," I don't try to define what rest is for a person, but I ask you to figure out what work is for you, and don't do it one day out of the week.
CNN: You go as far as to say that going full-throttle 24/7 is an illness. How do you recognize the signs?
Sleeth: I find that there's a growing epidemic, really, of depression. We're the most depressed country in the world.
CNN: You also say this mantra has made a big difference in your own life -- for you as well as your family. How so?
Sleeth: My family and I adopted this about a decade ago. My children were in high school, and they went through high school, college -- and my son even through medical school -- keeping one day of rest, where they didn't study.
They got their work done in advance. I think it actually helps you to order your life, because in preparing for that day of rest, you... actually get more things done on the six days that you are working.
So for our family, we took it very seriously. My kids really became the guardians of it when they lived at home, and they really wanted to see it happen. I think it actually helped us as a family.
I have many people that I've talked to now that have said that keeping one day of rest a week has been the single best thing they've done for their marriage, their family and their spiritual relationship.
********************
Take a Pause Before It is Necessary
Pausing restores perspective.
An elementary school principal has learned that, to regain her equilibrium after a challenging or upsetting experience, she needs to "...go and sit in the grade three classroom for a while and just see the goodness of kids and get rid of the bad scene that just happened."
Pausing brings insight.
Pausing gives access to answers buried in the noise and commotion of everyday life. I recently quizzed a handful of colleagues about the pros and cons of a contract offer. One finally counseled, "You've got all the information there is to be had. If you'll just be quiet with yourself, you'll know what to do." I was, and I did.
Pausing makes room for learning.
Learning leads to improvement. The U.S. Army follows each maneuver with a pause for an After Action Review. In the break from the action, they address three questions. What went well? Where did we mess up? What did we learn for next time? If you find yourself making the same mistakes over and over, a pause for an AAR could break the cycle.
Pausing sustains spirit, productivity and quality.
"You can't just burn people out," says a marketing vice president. "When you have a high priority, sprint as fast as you can. When it's not urgent or critical, take a pause. If you work 20 hours a day, your product will be crap."
Pausing carves out space for relationship.
If the only way I can get your attention is to scramble along beside you as you run your next race, I may not be there long. Relationships are neither built nor maintained on schedule at high speed.
They take time and space to evolve and mature.
Like a concert of all scherzo pieces who would lose it first the organist or the audience?
Pausing minimizes regret.
If your tongue is razor sharp and fast, words spoken in haste could cut another to the core. A pause between a thought and a comment could mean the difference between keeping friends and making amends.
Pausing promotes creative thought.
A writer observes, "Creative people have a talent for doing nothing. Sir Isaac Newton wasn't running around with a clipboard and beeper when he discovered the law of gravity, but sitting under a tree, watching an apple fall."
Pausing conserves energy.
A professional tennis coach counsels his players to give it their all when the ball is in play. However, as soon as the ball goes dead, during that walk back to their starting positions, they are to slow their breathing, quiet their movements, and still their minds. This conserves and rebuilds energy for the next demanding exchange.
Pauses come in all shapes and sizes.
A two minute break in the midst of a task. A short walk at lunch. An afternoon of 'do nothing' puttering. A long weekend at the cabin. A three week vacation in the mountains. A six month sabbatical.
What do pauses have in common?
- A change of pace.
- A change of focus.
- A distance from the commotion of the moment
- A break in the action.
© 2005 Patricia Katz, Optimus Consulting