just 5 minutes
You’ll notice I write A LOT about nature. There’s a reason why.
In 2012, I read a blog post that shared the physical and emotional benefits of being outside in fresh open air. The post was moving and convincing. At the end of the post, the author challenged to go outside for five minutes, that it could change my life. That was it. Just five minutes.
Those five minutes did indeed change my life and the lives of my children as well.
reconnect
I can be sort of a planner nerd. I like my days organized with stickers and glitter and pretty pens. It started during a season of my husband working rotating shifts(LEO), myself on weekend night shifts, and a new baby. Coordinating our work hours was a necessity for functioning.
retrospection
We came to a pandemic.
As an enneagram six, I pondered all the worst case scenarios and plotted statistics into my autoimmune survival plan. I stocked up, sheltered in, ready for the long haul.
‘tis so sweet
“𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐱 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭.”
just look up
𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡 & 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐷𝑜𝑤𝑛’𝑠 𝑠𝑦𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝐸𝑅. While walking her & her father back to her room, she paused at the artwork on the wall. The automatic doors 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 & 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂 ғᴇᴡ 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 while we waited as she smiled intently at the art. Without skipping a beat, her father lightheartedly chuckled that ʜᴇ’ᴅ ʟᴇᴀʀɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ʜɪs sᴜʀʀᴏᴜɴᴅɪɴɢs ᴍᴏʀᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ʜɪs ᴅᴀᴜɢʜᴛᴇʀ sᴛᴏᴘᴘᴇᴅ & ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ʟɪғᴇ along the way instead of rushing from place to place.