Displacement

One Thanksgiving, I found myself explaining to my young niece the scientific concept of displacement using a bowl of floating cranberries and candles as an example. If you take something out, the other things will do their best to fill that space. It can maintain the appearance of "fullness" for a long time even without replacing the removed items with anything new. This is happening in my life this week. I started a fasting challenge on Sunday where I remove something from my routine temporarily with the intention of making room for something else. I am fasting the use of swear words, which is more attitudinal than time-making, and also "extra" social things. I am usually very, very good at filling up every moment of my week with things. So, this week, I'm not adding anything in beyond my volunteer commitments and work so that I have time to prepare for the small group Gary and I are leading beginning next week. Well, so far, I've filled my time up with work (I stayed at the office until 9 tonight) and doing stuff at home. Displacement at its finest. Today is Day 4. Hopefully, I have a very different report by Day 7.