She has already written a bestseller about clearing the clutter from your home. Now, Victoria author Katherine Gibson tackles an even more complicated topic: Clearing your life. And, once again, she takes a less-is-more approach that minimizes distractions and maximizes inner peace.
She's concerned that too many people are not only hurried but harried, cramming too much into 18-hour days of technology, work, kid classes, social obligations and acquiring more stuff.
"Eating disorders, depression, sleep deprivation and techno-overload have become the hallmarks of everyday life," she writes, and she's convinced that everyone from school kids to seniors feels the pressure to measure up.
She believes there's profound relief to be found in the time out -- if only for a few minutes -- and learned the value of taking a breather the hard way.
As a motivational speaker who tours the country giving seminars on life management, Gibson found herself veering seriously off course.
Already under pressure to write a new book, she was blindsided by the diagnosis of a malignant brain tumour in her brother, the father of young children.
"When I look back on it now, I was either working toward a breakdown or depression," says Gibson, 55.
"I was beginning to feel number and number inside. It was then that I decided to clear everything out of my life except for those things that were essential."
That meant putting her life on hold and taking care of herself.
"It was through that, and watching my brother, whose life had also come to a halt, that I realized that we all need to pause. Not just when there's a tragedy, but every day.
"And in some way we have to inject meaningful moments into the day that let us connect with each other and with ourselves and a way that makes our world a saner place.
"
Out of that came her latest book, Pause: Putting the Brakes on a Runaway Life (Insomniac Press, $21.95)
She believes people must take "inner pauses" to live healthfully amid the din, demands and rising expectations of modern life.
We don't need to "pull a Thoreau," as she puts it, and retreat to the wilderness for restoration.
A couple of minutes spent in morning contemplation or a lunch-hour walk in a park can do wonders.
"We can't live for our retirement or wait for the weekends or our holidays. We have to make each day a celebration.
"I feel that the more time we can claim for ourselves, the more control we have, the better we're living. And that means saying no and that means also adjusting our expectations."
Face-to-face conversation is one of her favourite antidotes.
"Studies are showing that we're spending about 35 minutes in what we might call quality conversation with members of our family, but we're spending 23 hours a week watching TV. Perhaps we could look at maybe reversing some of that."
With the escalation of techno-babble, we're finding it harder to hear our heartbeats and the music of nature that helps create peace of mind, she adds.
"We need to live more soulfully. I think we've become disconnected.
News RSS