I’m writing today out on my screened porch – a summer necessity where I live – with coffee and a bowl of cereal topped with local peaches. The lawnmowers haven’t started their weekend serenade yet, so my only company is the cicadas and my dog.
Ah, Saturday! As much as I try to value all of the days of my life, it’s just easier with some than others. A warm weekend morning with all of the day’s possibilities still stretched out in front of me is something to savor, and so I shall.
(As much as possible anyway, with lawnmower #1 just clearing its throat.)
We all get caught up in the daily whirlpool, working our way through from morning to night, head down, grimly determined to GET EVERYTHING DONE. Breakfast – check! Kids to school – check! Work – check! Meetings, projects, lunch (run errands REALLY FAST) more meetings, commute, kids, DINNER?? We’ve got a game tonight (DRIVE THROUGH!). Home, sleep (not much) and get up to do it again. Time for our spouses, significant others, read a story to the kids?? Not so much really.
(Who is running a LEAF BLOWER at this time of day? Don’t you have to finish mowing first?)
While the weekends provide some respite from all of that, they can be just as hectic in their own way. I feel that I have to do so many things on the weekend to GET READY FOR THE WEEK that I don’t really unwind, relax, let my hair down enough. Last weekend’s grand finale was a one-day, caffeine-fuelled 600 mile round trip to take my son to camp! Next weekend I have to pick him up.
So, today I resolve to find some time for myself, EVERY WEEKEND. Not just time for another chore or errand, but time to reflect and enjoy stillness. Maybe I’ll need to wake up just a bit earlier to find it (ugh) or maybe I have to accept a slightly messier house than I’d like, but I must find more time for coffee, the cicadas, and me.
(Oh Lord, lawnmower #2!)
What do you think? Do you make time for yourself regularly, or are you caught in the whirlpool with no hope of escape? What’s your favorite “me-time” activity?
