Relaxed Refinement

It’s a simple question, how do you relax? How do you unwind after a long week of work, family, life? Ask any child this question and I’m sure you’d get a plethora of wonderful, wholesome, and exciting answers. Ask an adult this, good luck with getting anything more than a hot bath or cold beer.

So why is it so hard to relax for some of us? I find it fascinating that I still remember a time where I was baffled when I heard people say they couldn’t relax. Now that I’m a bit older, I get it! Even when I carve out time to physically relax, my mind doesn’t give me a break. If I’m physically relaxed, my mind tells me I should be more physically active. Or I remember I need to do laundry (somehow there’s always laundry to do) or the dishes or clean the closet or take out the trash or clean the toilet or call a loved one or hang out with friends or take a walk or read more or…. I think you get it. That’s how my mind works sometime.

It’s almost funny that if we go back to the childlike mindset that we used to have, we’d probably come up with a long list of wonderful things to do to relax. Sometimes I envy the young as they are experiencing these beautiful elements around us for the first time. Remember the first time you saw snow and became so excited you couldn’t wait to throw on your hand-me-down gloves that were two-sizes too big and search for the perfect patch of snow to make some snow cream? Or the first time running into crashing waves against you as your feet felt saltwater for the first time. Now I see snow and all I think about is the car wash I’ll need and after all, salt and sand gets EVERYWHERE. I want to challenge myself to see the world as I did as a child and always be in wonder about the beautiful creation that God has gifted us.

For me, I occasionally need a bit of a ‘hard reset’ where I escape to the woods with nothing but a tent and a bag or two of items to get me through a few days of “roughin’ it” as my grandma would call it. To be fair, she’d call it this if you were in a tent in the woods or a 5 star hotel, just the tone would change. Anyways, I love back to nature and as far from instagram and the news cycle as I can. There’s nothing much better than waking up to the crisp fall air, starting a fire from the coals from the fire the night before, and sitting back in a lawn chair with a cup of coffee and a blanket.

I’m just writing to share some of thoughts about how I feel like I need to relax lately and also just really need an escape to nature as the leaves are turning beautifully out. I’d love to hear how some of you have retained that childlike acceptance of relaxation and downtime!