Hello friends. This will likely be the last post on my Camino blog and then I will switch back to my usual content on my other blog site. If you don't follow over there, go ahead and shoot me a message and I'll send you the link.
As of tomorrow, I will have been home for two weeks. In that time, I have had a LOT of down time to reflect and process and REST. One huge revelation I have come to is that in my regular life I do not get enough of this time. Unscheduled time. I am that girl who keeps her schedule so packed out that my head is spinning even when I do have a free moment. I love meeting up with friends, going out and enjoying life and being active. I actually feel guilty when I have a lot of time to myself, because as a mom, I guess I somehow got "programmed" that it is selfish or something.
One of the biggest pieces of learning that I have taken from this experience (especially the leaving early part) is that not only is it healthy and smart to have down time, but it is something I NEED. Each time my brain tried to wander into that place ("I should really be doing something") I actually worked to mentally shut that down and just keep doing the things that were feeding my soul at the moment.
I have stayed in bed really late in the mornings, watched hours and hours of Netflix, gone to movies alone, read a book, caught up on blog reading, spent a TON of time with my kids and just literally done nothing sometimes. I have reconnected with a few old friends and have caught up with their lives. Most of the times I have gone out to do something, it has been to do ONE errand, or meet up with one friend, and then I came home. Guess what? That is awesome. I love that I am a full grown up and have just now discovered that I am in charge of my own life, my own schedule, and how I get to allocate the time in my days!
Another realization is that I have begun to use my empty brain space to have really valuable thoughts. I am considering how I want to run my classes this year, how I want to carry out this new thinking in my life once real life begins again and how to prioritize my time when I go back to work! I am actually excited to get back to work and spend time in my classroom helping young people shape their lives.
I'll leave you for now with a few quotes from one of the movies I've viewed since I've been home:
As of tomorrow, I will have been home for two weeks. In that time, I have had a LOT of down time to reflect and process and REST. One huge revelation I have come to is that in my regular life I do not get enough of this time. Unscheduled time. I am that girl who keeps her schedule so packed out that my head is spinning even when I do have a free moment. I love meeting up with friends, going out and enjoying life and being active. I actually feel guilty when I have a lot of time to myself, because as a mom, I guess I somehow got "programmed" that it is selfish or something.
One of the biggest pieces of learning that I have taken from this experience (especially the leaving early part) is that not only is it healthy and smart to have down time, but it is something I NEED. Each time my brain tried to wander into that place ("I should really be doing something") I actually worked to mentally shut that down and just keep doing the things that were feeding my soul at the moment.
I have stayed in bed really late in the mornings, watched hours and hours of Netflix, gone to movies alone, read a book, caught up on blog reading, spent a TON of time with my kids and just literally done nothing sometimes. I have reconnected with a few old friends and have caught up with their lives. Most of the times I have gone out to do something, it has been to do ONE errand, or meet up with one friend, and then I came home. Guess what? That is awesome. I love that I am a full grown up and have just now discovered that I am in charge of my own life, my own schedule, and how I get to allocate the time in my days!
Another realization is that I have begun to use my empty brain space to have really valuable thoughts. I am considering how I want to run my classes this year, how I want to carry out this new thinking in my life once real life begins again and how to prioritize my time when I go back to work! I am actually excited to get back to work and spend time in my classroom helping young people shape their lives.
I'll leave you for now with a few quotes from one of the movies I've viewed since I've been home:
