I don’t know what it has been about life lately but I feel like I am drowning in obligations and responsibilities. Perhaps it is because I am a full-time high school English teacher overwhelmed with grading, planning, meeting, and other teaching responsibilities. Or it could be because I have a three and a five year old demanding mommy-time ALL THE TIME. Or feasibly it is because I have recently become a co-owner of a business. Or maybe it is because of all the laundry, housework, and yard work that must be done. Or perchance it is all the activities, the birthday parties, the festivals, the play dates, the museum exhibits, the doing doing doing going going going of day-to-day life. We fill up our time with so much stuff, so much noise, that we have a difficult time enjoying any of it. And let’s not forget our little friend the cell phone, who is always there when you have a minute to spare to suck your attention into the minutiae of social media drama. In fact, I am taking this moment out of my incredibly busy workday to write this blog because I have a twenty minute window in which to reflect on the busyness of my life. The irony.
It should not be this way.
Last weekend was a three-day weekend because of Labor Day. On Monday afternoon, I found myself sitting out on my back porch because the weather was lovely and I needed, desperately needed, some DOWN TIME. My family ended up joining me on the porch and, although we weren’t necessarily “doing” anything, we were spending time together and enjoying the moment. I really think we all need more moments like this. We need to appreciate the breeze and the way the leaves sound in the wind, the smell of a wood-fire off somewhere, the calmness of sitting and just being. I must add this to my list of things to do. Oh, wait... here I go again. Deep breath.