On Doing Nothing

This morning, while sitting on the new patio (Thank you Antonio!) listening to the birds—ever since I got the chickens I have a whole host of birds that love to sit in the bougainvillea and sing to their heart’s content—and drinking my lemon water (I know, it makes me sound like an old lady, but the thing is, I really am enjoying it!), I found that my ’15 minutes of nothing’ stretched itself out into more like a half hour.

It felt so luxurious to simply be.

It reminded me of being a kid, driving back and forth from Southern California to Mexico with my parents in our converted 1970’s Ford Econoline camping van. (Hello, #vanlife.) I’d lie on the bed in the back for that 4-hour drive, listening to the Mighty 690 on the radio and letting my mind wander. Reading made me carsick, so I just watched the scenery go past. There was nothing else to do.

I thought about that time this morning—do we ever have that kind of space anymore? Between the phones, the podcasts, and the constant distractions, it’s rare. It was so nice to carve out time today just to feel the sun and ponder.

In that pondering, I thought of the wonderful comments I’ve been getting on my writing lately. I love that connection so much, but I keep feeling nudged toward something more. If I had to name it, I’d call it Presence.

Reading about reclaiming agency is one thing—actually practicing it is another.

If you are feeling like you’d like to reconnect with that sense of quiet agency and shared presence, then I invite you to join us tomorrow, Sunday Feb 8 at 10am Pacific to practice "taking the reins" together.