”How have you been during lockdown? Busy?” is one of the questions I have heard the most during lockdown. Every day I pass my neighbour’s house, called “Festina Lente”, a Latin phrase that is translated to “make haste slowly” or in my German mother tongue, “Eile mit Weile”.

I was wondering whether being busy is the main qualifier to express that a day, time period, like lockdown, or a life has been worthwhile. Being busy is usually associated with the “wise use of time” and to be “on the go” to get something done. Really? Busy-ness and speediness do not necessarily correlate with meaningful achievement and productivity. Often, we are not even aligned to our deepest inner being or highest intentions while trying to self-optimise. Busy-ness can be an avoidance strategy and haste can provide a feeling of worthiness without evaluation of the quality of the goals & outcomes.

What about a lingering productivity? Passive activity? Giving time to time?

Reading, walking, breathing consciously ever so often, checking in with your own feelings, finding restful spaces in your mind and environment, practicing patience…

Don’t go through day, grow through your day. It needs intention, focus and awareness. You might be surprised what you see if you decided to look at life differently – Festina lente!

If you want to share your insight on this topic, I would love to hear your voice.