Today I played hooky.
I didn’t go into the office today. I did a couple of hours of work at home, but mostly, I played.
It was fun. Fun. I had a chance to be silly today, to laugh, to enjoy family, to sit in the quiet and feel the sun on my face. To be doing nothing and to enjoy it, without pressure that I should get to the next task.
Sometimes too much of a good thing is too much.
There is much in my life is good. I love my work, both at the counselling office and at the university. No complaints about all the neat people I get to talk with, the collaboration I have with colleagues and clients. Work is not a chore.
I love my family too. We have great times, and I enjoy helping them be successful.
It’s just that there isn’t a lot of time that isn’t accounted for. It’s always racing to finish one thing to get onto the next. When I can do two things at once, I do.
But today, me and mine checked out of life for the day. I went for tea with a good friend and we laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. I heard about her life and she mine. Watched some Olympics. Went for brunch…strawberries and chocolate hazelnut spread in a crepe at Cora’s was a lovely decadence. We tried to set new records for successful creamer flipping…I think I’ve done it 8 times before, and the record was only 5 today, but not from lack of effort. (I never got above 2 today).
Then we went skating on the river at the Forks. The sun was out, the ice was crisp and hard, and the skating divine. People were in a good mood. We tried out just about every warm up shack on the river (and admired them) to see what it felt like. Sometimes we skated together, other times I was alone. Time to contemplate, breath, enjoy. We giggled at the one shack at the end of the trail. It was a three walled shack…one of the walls had a door on it…locked. What is the purpose of a locked door on a shack that has one wall open?
Checked out the ice path, the snowboarders, and I sat in the sun while the others checked out the skate park. I wasn’t doing anything, and was enjoying not doing anything…not feeling a pressure to be finding something to do. There’s something about stopping, finding a quiet time in a busy season and enjoying each other.
Capped off the afternoon with a familiar treat remembered from the summertime…deep fried Mars bars. Yum.
In the busy-ness of life this winter, as full as it is of good things, I will remember today as a large deposit in the bank account of family mental health. Ahhh….feelin’ good.
I’ll be charged up and ready to attack the regular schedule with vigor. Sometimes until we make a point of it, we forget how valuable recharging is.
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