Celebrate - Square-Peg Style

 

What do YOU know about celebrating?

I thought I knew plenty - I mean, it doesn't seem like the kind of topic you need extensive training to understand, right?

Something happens (could be big, could be little) - and you celebrate! There you go. Easy peasey. A kid could do it. And they DO - all the time!

Ok, what does celebrating involve? It involves celebrating (for crying out loud!): making merry, whooping it up. Easy peasey (again!). Except it wasn't for me.

I had something to celebrate, but I couldn't figure out how.

I finished a project that had been on my to-do list since God was a corporal. I felt pulled to celebrate - because there's something wonderful about finally finishing. But I also felt weird about celebrating - because the accomplishment was just one part of an on-going bigger thing.

So I wondered: Do I celebrate? Or keep pushing until the whole thing is done? And then, if I celebrate - how?? Hmmmm. Ponder. Ponder.

I made this into a big issue (in my head) - and I'm glad I did because all that pondering led me to creating a Square-Peg Celebration template (grin). Which, by the way, means I decided YES to celebrating my not-the-whole-list-but-hey-it-matters accomplishment.

Here's the Square-Peg Celebration template: Stop, Drop and Roll. (Yea, I may not have made that up - but I'm appropriating it. It works!).

What's it mean? Stop means STOP! Literally. Stop. For a minute at least. Stop the zoom, stop fussing, just stop! You can't celebrate if you don't stop to acknowledge that there's something to celebrate - celebration is not real if it's multitasked.

Once you're in Stop mode, Drop. Drop down into your body. Breathe. Breathe deeply. A couple more deep breaths. There you go! While you're home (IN, aware of, your body - your home) notice where you're tight, where you're loose, if any part of you wants to stretch or needs a little massage. Ahhhh, home sweet home!

Ok, now it's time to Roll. Roll? Yep, roll. Not literally (oh what the hell - go ahead!) - what we're aiming for is akin to what a puppy does when it smells something gross, races across the yard to it, leaps in and rolls around gleefully. Only we're not sniffing for something gross, or racing, or leaping. But still - it's like the puppy roll. Really!

What we're going to do is enjoy something fully. With puppy-passion and unguarded, heart-open exuberance.

Mindfully appreciate (roll in) something: sit with a cup of tea, stand outside and smell the fresh air, slowly munch a treat, take a nap, take a ride, light (and enjoy) a candle, read a poem, write a poem, play with markers, lie in the grass and look up at the sky. That's a Roll!

The Stop, Drop and Roll celebration I initiated to honor my small accomplishment involved (after the stopping and dropping) leaving the office and reading a chapter of a yummy book (in the middle of the day, when I'd usually push myself to do more work).

The whole Stop, Drop and Roll process doesn't need to take a long time. Part of the problem when I made celebration into a big issue in my head was thinking that it had to be large (a time and money grabber). I'm pretty sure you could do the whole thing in less than 15 minutes (psst - anyone want to test this?).

If you decide to give this a try, I'd love to hear how it goes!! And I'm curious: can you remember the shortest amount of time you've taken to really celebrate something? How about the longest??

Comments

[Gin]

I love this, Karen!!

[Square-Peg Karen]

Thank you, thank you Gin <3

[Maribethdoerr]

Very timely for me Karen. I way of celebrating anything has always revolved around FOOD. And I can't do that anymore because of my health issues. I feel almost adrift and I have to find a new way to celebrate! Why is that so hard?! So I shall be quite delighted to celebrate the mindful (aka square-peg way) and let you know how that goes - as soon as I have something to celebrate!

Love you!

[Square-Peg Karen]

Can't wait to hear how Square-Peg celebrating goes for you, Maribeth. And I hear you about food - and about how hard it is to find a new way to celebrate.

My guess about why it's so hard is: because we get in ruts/habits.

I'm thinking about what a habit it is for me to (mindlessly) turn to food to celebrate. It's easy to eat while doing something else - so then my celebrating is in the middle of multi-tasking, isn't mindful - and hence, isn't really celebrating. Sigh.

Thanks for helping me think more about this!!

Love you, too <3

[Square Peg Guy]

Celebrating seems to come naturally to those Round-Peg-types. But to me, your post is one of those bits of information that strikes everyone else as obvious and fills a big void in my knowledge.

I do have a post on how to cheat on a diet. I think that could be helpful for anyone in the mood to celebrate. ;)

[Square-Peg Karen]

Square Peg Guy, I'm glad the info here "fills a big void" for you!

And I'm quite curious about your how to cheat on a diet post, maybe you could share the link with us??? I'm not "into" dieting, but still - the how to cheat on one idea makes me grin; that'd fill a void in my knowledge for sure!!

Glad to "see" you here!

[Charlotte Dixon]

I love to celebrate, probably a bit too much. :-) But I love your idea of taking time out to have a small celebration, like reading a chapter of a book. As a matter of fact, I just finished a project, I think I'll go do that. Thanks for the permission!

[Square-Peg Karen]

I don't know, Charlotte - I'm not sure there is a "too much". I think the status quo leans toward WAY too little celebration, and more and more brow beating about not getting enough done.

So maybe, if you celebrate a lot, you're just balancing it all out for us : )

[Merry ME]

Makes me think of the Swifter commercial where the lady finishes her mopping and decides to sit down and read a book. Stop. Drop. Roll. Terrific idea. Let the party(s) begin.

[Square-Peg Karen]

I'm giggling, Merry ME - I love that visual! And YES to partying!!

[Square Peg Guy]

Hi Karen:

Here's a link to the post in which I describe how to cheat on a diet.

Thank you for taking an interest!

[Square Peg Guy]

Oops, forgot to paste it in...

http://square--peg.blogspot.com/2012/10/more-thoughts-on-diet-cheats.html