It’s a nice mid-evening in Colorado. My husband, daughter and I are out camping at a local state park. It’s not far from at home but it’s far enough to get away from the responsibilities of our careers, housework, yard work, and being part-time caregivers, even if just for a few days.
For me, it’s always a struggle to walk away from my responsibilities and the stress of my day to day. It’s almost like I’m addicted to never giving myself room to breathe. I mean, who has an addiction like that!? This wierdo! I think I’ve lived like that so long that I forget what it’s like to just be.
Fortunately, in Colorado, you have to book campgrounds the first week of January or you’ll be out of luck finding vacancies. So, this year I put several camping weekends on the books and promised to stick to it. As I sit here wrapped up in a cozy blanket lounging in my fold out chair next to my pup and a campfire. I’m blogging and taking time to think and write. I realize how important this is to get my mind, body, and spirit right and I also know that I utterly fail at mental self-care and taking time for myself. I needed this little camping trip; it brings a calmness in me that I rarely feel.
I glance over at the lit up little popup camper and see the silhouettes of my husband and daughter picking on each other and laughing...they needed this as much as me.
I think some of the best times of my young life were this simple and required very little. Learning to fish, catching crawdads, camping in the Colorado mountains, catching lizards, and spending time with my cousin (one of my very best friends) for a few weeks in a camper on my great grandmas property in the mountains. It’s no wonder camping brings me joy and peacefulness.
Sometimes we just have to dial it all back and breath in the simplicity of things. Even if it's hard to let go of the day to day, it’s important. This moment is important and you don’t get it back. So, be sure that,
every now and again, you do you.
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