Tag Archives: daily life

Slowing Down

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Life is better when you slow down and savor the small moments of the day. That old adage about stopping to smell the roses is true and it is important.

We spend too much time trying to survive the workday, living for the weekend, and just trying to get to some kind of higher ground where things will be better. We forget to enjoy what’s in front of us.

I’m guilty of this too. Some days are better and some worse. Some days aren’t meant for savoring as much as they are meant for survival.

This has been on my mind lately as I’m starting to look forward to adventure season and easier days. I traveled for work yesterday and was with a coworker when we stumbled across this house. She’s also outdoorsy and a fan of flowers and trees.

We both spotted this gorgeous magnolia tree at the same time, gasping at the glory of all those blooms. The entire yard and much of the street are blanketed in magnolia blooms. On the ground they’ve made a carpet so thick it looks like you could rake them.

We stopped for just a minute but it felt like a real treat to pause and drink in the view of this enchanting tree and the way it has transformed everything around it.

That’s the thing about beauty. Something pretty can make everything around it seem so much better.

I hope you’ll stop to appreciate something today even if just for a moment.

Around Here

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Around here it feels like I’m in a holding pattern. There’s much I wish to do this spring but first I have to get through some work projects and the weather needs to improve.

Around here I’m trying to find balance and rest, productivity and completion. I’m building habits, not by adding to my day but by letting go of the unnecessary. I’m turning off the tv and trying to slowly sift through some small home projects.

Around here, my new bedtime routine has become the best part of the day. I don’t do anything different when it comes to getting ready for bed but have come to think of turning down the bed, washing away the residue of the day, and enjoying classical music while reading myself to sleep as both ritual and luxury.

Around here, good enough is better than perfect and perfect is the enemy of done. Things really just need to be done.

Around here Scout seems to have developed seasonal allergies, I’m having a dental bridge done and there’s an issue with my leg. Between the two of us, we’re kind of a mess.

Around here, the flowering quince is in bloom, and daffodils have exploded. Tiny pink and purple flowers dot the yard in places. Wild onions grow and weeds are sprouting everywhere. Everyone is tempted to start their yard work, a bad decision for the pollinators that are still waking up. Around here they need us to hold off a while longer.

Around here things are hard but there is hope that life will be easier soon, that the sun will shine, and that White Lightning will be ready for a day trip when I’m ready to go.

Friends, it’s Friday. The weekend is so close we can almost touch it. Whether you’re around here or around there, wherever there may be, you deserve something good today. Enjoy this day, stay safe and be happy.

Do Yourself A Favor

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I wrote something for today but it was fueled by exhaustion. I’m long overdue for a vacation or maybe just a good night’s sleep. While I ruminate over whether or not I want to publish a piece that’s kind of personal but that would likely resonate with many of you, I give you this one very small suggestion.

Do yourself a favor.

Step away from all the screens in your life. Turn off the tv. Put down your phone. Step away from your computer.

Now read something. Anything that is printed on a tangible piece of paper. A novel for escapism, a non-fiction book for education or a printed newspaper for the sake of understanding something that is happening in the world around you.

Ask questions. Be curious. Seek to understand what doesn’t meet the eye. Do something that will make you smarter or happier or just better informed than you’ll be with the garbage fed to you by social media and televised opinions that are masqueraded as news.

If you don’t want to do this, walk outside. Go for a hike, hit the swings at the park, wave to your neighbors from your front porch.

I honestly don’t care what you do. Just find a way to either better your mind or to ground yourself in the outdoors.

It may not make sense to you at this moment but it may after you have done it.

What do you have to lose?