The Summer of No Plans

This has been a very quiet summer for me. Unlike the last few summers, no cross country train trips or multi-day bike tours are on the agenda. No yoga teacher training or international travel. Not even any short weekends away. It feels as if my life is on pause at the moment, or, as I have been telling people, my life is in a holding pattern.
And that's okay.
I feel as if this is exactly what I need right now. It's not a bad thing. It's not a sad thing. It is, in fact, very healthy to withdraw a bit (or a lot) from time to time. Doing so allows us time to think and reevaluate and plan the next step...or just be.
Sometimes we get so caught up in living our life by habit that it doesn't even occur to us to break away and take a look at the view outside of the box.
So I am pretty much just taking life day by day at the moment and doing what I feel like doing, leaving room to say yes and leaving room to say no. And while life feels slower than usual for me this summer, I see that there have been some really great, truly treasured moments so far, and none of them were really planned.
The time I have spent with friends has been meaningful not just busy, not at all a blur.

Such as spending an evening in both light and deep conversation while sipping wine on the outdoor patio of my favorite local wine bar with my friend Laurel.
Such as being my good friend Bart's "date" at the beautiful, authentic wedding ceremony of our dear friend Brianne.
Such as organizing local group bike rides and catching up with old bike friends and making new bike friends.
Such as sipping rosé on a Lincoln Park apartment building rooftop with my former student and now dear friend Erica.

The summer of not making plans has opened itself up to the most organic plans. So, yeah, I am okay with life on pause for the time being...

The view from here is quite nice.

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