forest bathing & other thoughts from the VA mountains . . .

So at (very) long last, I made it to the end of the academic year and am extremely grateful to be enjoying a week of vacation in the mountains of central Virginia.  The goals for my time off were pretty simple: stillness & quiet, being able to enjoy creation, no schedules & constant emails, time with God, and time with good friends.  It's been a good week so far!

This school year was intense work-wise due to staffing shortages on our team - the result being that work took up most of my time and energy, neither of which I am a fan of!  Thankfully we are almost fully staffed and have brought some amazing people on board who I am looking forward to working with in the months ahead.

What I'm appreciated about this week off is the space (mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally) to simply stop, process, listen, reflect.  I've felt "not like myself" for months and have realized this week that part of that has come from things that have gotten crowded out of my life due to sheer exhaustion . . . they are things that  are connected to how I'm wired, so their absence has (obviously) had an impact!  So this week embarks the return of the following ;-)

• journaling.  Starting back in high school, I've filled up more prayer journals than I can count.  It's a way I connect with God - processing things in my life in His presence.  And it hasn't happened in a long time!  But a new journal was purchased this week & is now under way!  
• forest bathing.  The term made you curious, didn't it?!  A dear family at my church introduced me to this concept during the husband's two-year battle with cancer (which is now in remission!)  From their blog: "So it turns out, according to research pioneered in Japan, that breathing the natural emissions of trees and plants in forests boosts the human immune system and specifically the body's cancer-fighting cells (by 50% after a couple days of walking in the woods, according to one study).  The Japanese consider this therapy and have coined the term "forest bathing" to describe immersion in the forest air."  I love spending time in creation - it recalibrates me in ways that nothing else does.  Right now I'm sitting on a balcony enjoying the sunshine, quiet, & mountain air.  Love it.  I've gone hiking 4 times this week.  Love it.  And I've realized that I need to do more of this on a regular basis!  (And while walking to & from the Metro provides some of that, it doesn't really count!)
• unplugging.  Past entries here have shown that technology boundaries are important to me - for various reasons.  And while yes, I am typing this on my laptop, this week has been largely unplugged for me.  Minimal checking of personal email, NO WORK EMAIL!, not having my cell phone with me at all times.  It's been great.  I used to be better about doing that in general - especially on the weekends - and this week is a reminder that I need to re-up that habit.
• blogging.  This blog has never been about profound content - if anyone even reads it, they can attest to it's stream-of-consciousness randomness ;-)  But similar to journaling, this blog is a good way for me to process, reflect, & think about life.  So I have a vague goal of doing this more often . . . for my own sake.  Time will tell how successful I am at it!
• putting my (limited) artistic side to use.  Photography is one of the few ways that I am slightly creative/artistic . . . and my trusty Nikon has gotten little use the past year.  So I started getting back into practice this week & have a goal of learning more about all the fancy features on it this summer.

So why write all this in a blog?  My own way to process.  But I also offer it as an encouragement to you (whoever you may be!)  What are the things that make you fully you?  What things recalibrate you to a healthy rhythm of life?  If you haven't taken time out to think about those things in a while, I highly recommend it!  While a week off is nice, you don't need that much down time to take a step back.  So I close with a simple question: if you were writing this post, what would be on your bulleted list - what things are part of your routine (or should be)?