“Just so that we can remember this for next time…”, Therapist says. “How long did it take you before you started feeling settled in this new job?”
I slow-blink several times.
“Probably… two and a half…. three? Weeks?”
“Ok. So let’s take it as 3 weeks. 3 weeks is about the time your body needs to settle into a new place. This might be helpful to remember next time you embark on somewhere or something new.” Therapist smiles kindly at me.
“There’s a voice inside me saying that I SHOULDN’T take that long.”
“Well, this is a fact. There’s no should or shouldn’t about it.”
—
Post-session, I think about where that voice comes from.
“You shouldn’t take that long.”
As if there’s a fixed timeline for how long one should take to get settled in a new job. As if there’s a fixed period to measure how successful one is at assimilating into a new culture. As if there’s criteria to determine how quickly one’s nervous system should settle when encountering new sights, smells and all the subtle sensory information in the environment.
“You shouldn’t take that long.”
I imagine this comes from the unconscious conditioning we receive. The deeply embedded culture that glorifies results and products over process and journey. Such that when we encounter something taking longer than it “should”, like settling into a new job, the voice comes up.
“You shouldn’t take that long.”
“It’s ok to take the time you need.”
I like this one better.
Along Life's Path 