Dog Days
On my recent trip to the Midwest, I was reminded how nice it is to just be. This past weekend, I joined my friend, his wife, their sweet and energetic daughter and his mother at their farm in Wisconsin.
I didn't realize just how much I needed this kind of time off. It was wonderful being around their 3 1/2 year-old daughter AND his mother. Both offered me a chance to be completely present, have a heavy dose of laughs and to be in love with conversation (also, getting enough sleep each night helped!).
With no cities for miles, the night sky was bright with stars, and it was peacefully quiet in all directions.
An intentionally simple weekend of eating food from off the farm, diving into a real book and connecting face to face with others was so nourishing. I was reminded that we could do with more time off in our lives!
My friend and his wife have a good and hard rule of no devices in front of their daughter, so we were always engaging with her (she also made sure you could see what she wanted to show you by putting it right in your face). My friend's mother has a great sense of intuition, can craft amazing stories of her life, and knows that perfect balance of connecting on a super deep level and then letting you be. Now that's an art form.
In these dog days of summer, it made me realize how revitalizing a little time away from our routines, devices and non-stop schedules can create such a feeling of peace.
Even if getting physically away isn't an option for you, I'd highly encourage making time for yourself to get mentally away for an hour, a day, a weekend: forest bath in your local park, have some screen-free time (important for adults too!), visit or reach out to friends to catch up, lift your head up to see what's happening around you. There's peace and nourishment all around us -- we just need to take the time to welcome it in.