The Cost of the Work-First Lifestyle
refuge • Viktor Frankl, C.S. Lewis, and psalm 19 • my current apéritifs
This photo was taken by my now husband, back in 2011, the day after my last Oracle Open World. We had one of those run-into-each-other’s-arms reunions at the airport in Bozeman then he whisked me to the tranquil pond and has been working his magic in my life ever since.
The work-first lifestyle is exhausting. 100% focus on winning is exhausting.
Looking back on my younger, less peaceful life, I was run ragged by what I see now as self-at-center. Our culture fuels this self-sovereignty and its more-more-more striving. Self can be a merciless ruler. When we never seem to have enough—accolades, promotions, money, you name it—we keep endlessly pushing and proving ourselves. There’s no time for rest. There’s no time to even sit down!
There was a restaurant near work called Refuge, which I thought was a great name, especially for a bar—100% focus on work and winning, and then you need a drink! Thankfully I never hit my low with alcohol, but I know many people who have. Food was my drug of choice but that doesn’t mean it’s not a serious problem, just easier to hide.
A quote from Viktor Frankl
The little book of blessings I shared last week has many quotes worth remembering, including this one from Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, which I think I need to add to my reading list:
“It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
C.S. Lewis and Psalm 19
Our church welcomed Michael Ward from the University of Oxford this past weekend. His doctoral research illuminated the connection between C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia and the seven heavens from ancient cosmology (Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) which you might be familiar with from your studies of Dante’s Divine Comedy. (I went to public school in California so missed out until now.)
Father Ward opened his lecture by referencing Psalm 19:
Psalm 19: 1–4
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
C.S. Lewis’ writing is just what the doctor ordered for skeptics of the faith. After being raised Catholic, he considered himself an atheist for over twenty years, well into his thirties. Father Ward shared that C.S. Lewis’ original hurdle to belief in God is a common one: how could a loving God allow the pain we see in the world? Lewis’s personal suffering, intellectual curiosity, meaningful relationships, and a deep longing for something more satisfying than atheism eventually led to him becoming deeply converted and quite a prolific writer and apologist.
On Saturday evening, Father Ward delved into more of Lewis’s books including: The Problem with Pain and The Abolition of Man, for which he has written a companion, After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s Abolition of Man. I’ve ordered it and can hardly wait for it to arrive.
What I drink when I’m not drinking water or wine
I love wine, but I’ve realized that I sleep better and feel better in my body when I don’t drink a half bottle every night. Key to cutting down for me has been to find beverages that satisfy the ritual and deliver great taste which for me means more bitter than sweet, like this apple cider vinegar shrub:
My go-to non-alc apéritifs:
Hella Cocktail Co. Bitters & Soda cans (which I’m really afraid they stopped making because I can’t find it anymore!)
Recess Margarita cans
Q Club Soda (Although I do regularly buy Perrier and Pellegrino, I’ve started keeping club soda on hand to sparkle this and that as it is more bubbly than sparkling water.)
homemade spritz with a shot of Belvoir Elderflower and Rose Lemonade (hinting that you can make a spritzer out of anything you like, from cranberry juice to apple cider shrubs like the opening photo and how it turned out, Day 8 in the photo below. I’m also loving the potted herbs from Greybull Valley Produce , sold at the Co-Op here in Bozeman:
Smooth Sailing, Fix Your Food Relationship in 2025!
So this is week 14 of Smooth Sailing. We’ve covered the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating, but I’ll keep posting every Monday to share my perspective on how to practice it, free yourself from diet mentality, and live a more connected life. Please subscribe and share. Thank you so much for being here!
Here’s a recap so far, since the beginning of January:
About Love & Cookies, homepage
Week 1: Food Addict? Or Something Else?
Week 3: Sugar “Addiction” and Primal Eating
Week 4: One is Never Enough…because None are Allowed
Week 6: Allow Yourself to Receive
Week 7: Think About Food Less + Enjoy it More
Week 9: Your Natural Healthy Weight
Week 10: Fit-for-You vs. Body Beautiful
Week 11: Enjoyment is Part of Being Healthy
Week 12: French Women Don’t Get Fat and Other Nonsense
Have a great week!
