Advent & Addictions

I'm reading Sarah McFarland Taylor's Green Sisters: A Spiritual Ecology, a really wonderful survey of the incredible way Catholic nuns are pushing the bounds on environmental issues--from hybrid cars, to eco-friendly remodels, to CSAs, to commitments to only wear second-hand clothing. One of the women Sarah interviewed talks about how one of the ways she sees her environmental commitment is as an effort to slow addictions--addiction to fossil fuel and television and speedy food, obviously. But she also mentioned addiction to work and to perfectionism. And these things caught my attention.

Greg (my husband) and I are just six weeks back from our three-month adventure in Argentina. I've been a scurry of stress to find jobs, cars, an apartment, furniture, renters' insurance, finish some work on From the Pews in the Back, keep up the blog. I've even found myself working about how quickly I can make some friends! Is it possible I've become addicted to my own life-creating busy-ness?

What I haven't done yet is go hiking in the Olympic National Forest that is almost literally out our backdoor. It's the third week of Advent and I'm still promising myself to teach Greg "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." Our Christmas tree stands light-less and ornament-less in the corner, waiting ever-so-patiently for us to find our collective moments of joy to decorate it.
And I know that these things, more than cars or the perfect couch, are what really make life.
So as I enter these final whispers of Advent renewed in my commitment to be careful about the way my addictions to busy-ness hurt me and my loved ones. And, if you feel so inclined, I invite you to do the same.

Kate Dugan is one of Olympia, Washington's newest residents and one of the co-editors of this blog & From the Pews in the Back.