Friday, 10 September 2021
Email Context
It’s my first day back at work after vacation, and the culture shock of returning to work and emails wasn’t nearly as nasty as the last time. That made it a tranquil day, but I was also mistrusting this smooth transition. Consequently, I had questions: Did I have a break?, was it as therapeutic as it should have been?, or the reverse, was it so relaxing that I am better able to adapt to changing circumstances? Nah. I’m just having myself on. 😏
Naturally, I’m not even sure what to write since there’s always the usual pile of emails awaiting attention. Then, of course, there were meetings to attend; apart from that, my activities for the day was limited.
Today's Cards
The Cards - Email Analysis
Carryover Cards
No cards carried over from yesterday.
Cross
We’ll start the day’s reading from a different perspective. Firstly, we’ll start with my Goal: to take each moment, and email, as it arrived (Moment to Moment in position three).
Secondly, if we look at the Distant Past, it shows Slowing Down, and this aptly applies to the leave I’ve just taken specifically, the trip to O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat.
Then we move on to the rest of the reading. By Slowing Down, I found going back to work; I had a new Awareness of who I am and where I derive my enjoyment. Happily, Experiencing nature firsthand influences my Awareness of what I enjoy, and for a time, has been absent from my life.
Recently, I felt the absence of autonomy – like everyone, thanks COVID – which filled me with Sorrow (Recent Past). Another source of Sorrow is the dread of going back to the office and facing the emails and meetings that inevitably accrue while on leave. Consequently, the release of underlying tension I wasn’t aware of exploded in a wave of heartfelt gratitude.
Awareness sits in the Now influenced by Experiencing. Again, I think Experiencing the trip to O’Reilly’s affects my return to work today.
In the Future Energy, Now’s Awareness morphs into Consciousness. Where Awareness shows a slither of realisation, Consciousness is fully cognizant of its actuality.
Base
Nonetheless, going back to work does provoke Feelings of The Burden. The Burden would be the bucket of emails to wade through.
Next is Mind in the Others’ Views position. Others felt my external appearance was one of being overwhelmed, confused or simply overloaded; it could be all of them. It’s often the case when people return from leave that they have a glassy-eyed look of being overloaded.
In the Hopes & Fears, is No-thingness. Sometimes, you fear – and it is often the reality – that’s not the case because tasks arrive for your skillset in your absence. Alas, the No-thingness card represents the “blank canvas” or empty inbox devoid of emails. Or it’s the new start which, when you’re returning from holidays, is how you’d like to start your return to work (hope).
Finally, the Conditioning card in the Outcome spot is about breaking free of the traditional constraints. It doesn’t mean you need to leave work; although it might be nice for a while 😁, you simply need to change your perspective. To use a line from the 1999 film, The Matrix (adjusted for context), “there are no emails”? Originally, “there is no spoon”.
Similarly, breaking free come from a change in attitude towards your work. Stephen R Covey put it like this: “They [Nazi captors] had more liberty, more options to choose from in their environment; but he [Viktor Frankl] had more freedom, more internal power to exercise his options” (Goodreads). Likewise, if we cultivate this philosophy regarding our work environments, might we be “free” at work, even if we are not free from emails.
References
- Osho, Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7
Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, First published 1998
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Search Text
First day back at work, and I always dread heading back into the office to face the pile of emails that inevitably await.
