Monday, 2/26/24: Talking about cultivating a thoughtful practice

Happy Monday!

It’s a new week, which means it’s time for your next Monday motivation newsletter.

Read on below for some steps to a happier Monday and some positive thoughts to get your week started.

Three Steps to a Happier Monday

Each newsletter starts with three prompts to inspire gratitude and simple intention setting. Take a moment and jot down answers to these three questions. To give an example, I share my answers below.  

Step 1: What are three things I appreciated from the weekend? 

Step 2: What is one thing I can be excited about today?

Step 3: What is my intention for this week? 

GRATITUDE: So much to be thankful for from this weekend – thankful for time with my mom, a great wedding shopping experience and having tea at The Drake with friends yesterday!

TODAY: Today, I’m most excited to have slow morning to ease into the week. 

INTENTION: My intention this week is to read every day (in a bit of a reading slump at the moment!).

Okay, your turn! And if you want to share your three steps, I am all ears. 🙂

Meaningful Musings: Cultivating a Thoughtful Practice

On the wedding planning front: Matt and I have decided we are going to have our ceremony at the Catholic church I grew up going to in Florida (and one affiliated with my grade and middle school). I’m really excited about it! It feels very meaningful as it was a big part of my life during my formative years.

I can still remember the feeling I would get when I came home for a weekend in college or visiting from Chicago and went to mass there. As soon as the entrance song started, I would get a goosebumps-all-over feeling, emphasizing the poignancy of visiting a pivotal place from a past chapter in my current chapter. I think it will be really special to get married there.

When you get married in the Catholic church, you are required to do something called Pre-Cana, or simply pre-wedding preparation that’s offered by the church. Even though we are getting married in Florida, we’re required to do our marriage preparation locally. So, over the past three weeks, we’ve been going to the church where I’m parishioner here – Old St. Pat’s.

Every church does Pre-Cana a little differently, but I’m not going to lie, I went into Pre-Cana a bit wary. Even for as excited as I am to get married in the church, I had a certain image in my mind of Pre-Cana (uncomfortable conversations with a priest, very stern discussions about what you marriage “should” be like, etc…).

I was curious about the experience, but I also tempered my expectations. To get a little personal: I feel very connected to Catholicism traditions because of my upbringing and connection to family heritage, but I would classify myself as a capital G God person and a lowercase c church person. I sometimes get a lot out of going to church; I sometimes find myself disagreeing with the church. I think a lot of people benefit from going to church, but I don’t think going every Sunday is automatically correlated with being a good person. It’s complicated, but overtime, I’ve become comfortable living in more of a gray space, charting a path as a full-time God, part-time church person and – personally – that feels good to me right now.  

( Side note: I don’t normally wade into topics such as religion in this space, but I’m thankful for the outlet to share something like this that’s on my heart right now. Even though religion is an extremely personal topic, thank you so much for reading and listening to my singular viewpoint! ) 

ANWAYS…

Even though I went into Pre-Cana a bit wary.. WOW were ourexpectations (both Matt and mine!) exceeded!

The first Sunday Matt and I went, we walked into a ballroom where there were 40 (!) other couples in attendance… refreshments (including wine, beer and snacks)… and engaging talks from married couples in the parish (including multiple couples of different faith backgrounds). We both thought it was incredible. We learned more about each other and had meaningful (and difficult) conversations in a safe space.

The experience resonated with me so much that I’ve been thinking about it for the past week. 

For three weeks in a row, each Sunday I entered the space stressed about the all the little things. The traffic on the way there; the chores at home; the work assignment I was worried about. Then, something happened over those two hours. I emerged more relaxed, more connected to Matt, more intentional, more at peace. Closer to the ideal version of me I want to be vs. the frazzled, stressed one.

While Pre-Cana was a moment in time, I realized I didn’t want to lose this weekly ‘enter distracted ⟶ emerged centered’ experience.

What was it about this experience that made me emerge centered? Was it the absence of distraction and responsibilities? The time and space to think deeply?

It reminds of something I read a while ago in the book Happier Hour (a book I loved). In the book, author Cassie Holmes suggests carving out time for quiet reflection and thoughtful practice called “Shultz Hour.”

The idea is modeled after George Shultz – former secretary of state – as he would famously protect one hour each week for quiet reflection. He sat in his office with a pad of paper and pen and told his secretary to only interrupt him if one of two people called – his wife or the president. In an interview about it, Schultz said that this hour of solitude was “the only way he could find time to think about the strategic aspects of his job… consider the larger questions.”  

In a way, I think I got a lot out of Pre-Cana because it was kind of thoughtful practice like that. And it is inspiring me to find another way to cultivate some of the main components – removing distraction, receiving inspiration, time & space to think and consider the big stuff – on an ongoing basis going forward.

Maybe it will be a weekly walk outside without my phone? Or one morning a week spent journaling and dreaming? Or going to church on Sunday and using the time to sit still in a sacred place? I’m not sure yet, but I’m excited to figure it out.

As Holmes writes, “The value of your Shultz Hour exceeds the enjoyment from removing distraction. It’s during this time that you can more deeply process, more limitlessly create, and more able to strategize about the important decisions awaiting your attention.”

I wanted to share this morning in case it prompts you to think about a weekly thoughtful practice where you can enter distracted ⟶ emerge centered too. And, if you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them.

Picture of the Week

That’s all for today! I hope you found something in today’s newsletter that sparked motivation, made you smile or inspired a positive Monday thought. Don’t underestimate the power of starting small… a fulfilling week starts with just one fulfilling day. You’ve got this! 

Let’s make it a great Monday!
Megan