....not easier

Yogis,
Our county comes around twice in the fall to vacuum up leaves that have been put near the street. Over the last several years the first pickup seems almost inconsequential since the leaves appear to be falling a bit later now. However the second pickup is critical if you don’t want to have to bag all your leaves…..and we have a lot!

Several times over the season I set aside an hour or two with the sole intention of raking. Yes, I actually still rake. In the front yard I rake them across the lawn and to the street. In the back I fill large trashcans or use a tarp for those knee-deep areas, to bring them around to the front.

I usually begin with a sweater, coat and hat, but after twenty minutes I am stripping down as I work up a sweat. My heart rate elevates and I can hear my breath. When I finish an area and look back at the now cleared grass, it is so satisfying. I feel like I have done something.

When people see me out there they comment how I need a leaf blower. Landscape companies will stop and ask if I want to hire them. Neighbors will offer to let me use their blowers, which is very kind, but I decline and get back to raking. It’s quickly becoming a lost art and I think I have excellent technique.

 Would it be easier with a leaf blower? Of course! But I don’t always want easier.

My current car is a 2018 so it has all the new safety features including the backup camera. I do love it. However, when I am backing up I look at the screen but then I also always twist and turn my neck to double check that no one is walking nearby. When someone rides with me they inevitably ask if I don’t trust my backup camera. It may be partly that, but it’s mainly because it is one of the few times in daily life I still get to do a full twist of my torso and neck. Our neck is meant to be turned.

Would it be easier to only use the screen? Of course! But I don’t always want easier.

Why is it that we want everything to be easier?

Automatic vacuums. Snow blowers. Remote controls. Smart toothbrushes. Timers. All designed so we don’t have to move our bodies. Add Alexa in and soon we can lie on the couch in our robe and shout voice commands to ‘live’ our life. And when you sit back and think about it, the more life is supposedly being made easier, the more complicated and harder it seems.

These physical bodies we have been gifted are meant to run and jump. Climb and squat. Twirl, twist and skip. You know the old adage…..use it or lose it.

So for now I will keep raking, shoveling, taking the steps and weeding by hand. They are in a way a moving meditation and they keep the blood flowing. They are good old fashioned doing.

We have a new neighbor two doors down. As I was writing this I looked out and saw her with a rake. I like her already!

Easier is not always better,
SARAH