I, like many others around my age both in Spain and Ireland, was born and raised in a catholic environment, so for many years, I attended Mass every Sunday and every religious holiday.
I remember several passages from the New Testament that impacted me, and one of them was the one about Martha and Mary:
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work alone? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Creo que esta lectura me llamaba la atención porque no la acababa de entender, no me cuadraba. Porque a ver, si había cosas que hacer, pues había que hacerlas, ¿no? No se podía una quedar ahí haciendo el vago… Pero Jesús venía a decirles justamente lo contrario, lo cual me rompía completamente los esquemas.
I didn´t even think of questioning whether those “things that had to be done” really needed to be done, or whether simply being, without “doing”, really meant being lazy.
And that´s because I was internally suffering that contrast (or rather, conflict) between what Martha and Mary´s characters represented: I was overwhelmed by all my tasks, which I felt as obligations, and when for whatever reason I dedicated time to rest or do something less “productive”, I felt bad afterward. I wasn´t comfortable with either one thing or the other. The result? A lack of sleep that lasted for years, and a big feeling of guilt.
Now that time has passed and I know myself better, I know that what´s really happening is that I have two different operation modes:
- The “efficient mode”, where I have loads of energy and I´m super productive, be it at work, doing house chores, out on errands, etc.
- The “quiet mode”, where I follow my own rhythm and take my time recharging batteries, in whatever way is needed depending on the moment.
La diferencia para mí la ha marcado el saber que no sólo ambos modos son válidos, sino que además son necesarios, y en realidad se complementan, todo es cuestión de mantener un equilibrio. Para poder gastar energía, primero hay que conseguirla. Y como vivimos en la cultura del «hacer», hay que recalcar mucho la importancia del «ser», pero si nos dedicamos solamente a ser y nunca a hacer, tampoco avanzamos… Lo ideal es que vayan los dos de la mano, y que jueguen a nuestro favor, no en nuestra contra.
Going back to the passage about Martha and Mary, what Jesus does is praise Mary for prioritizing the most important thing. Let´s do that as well: be clear on what´s most important to us at any given moment, and prioritize it, with awareness, in the best possible way and without feeling guilty.