Yes, the blog is late this week. My weekend didn’t exactly go as I thought it would and having stayed up till midnight last night, I wasn’t exactly bounding out of bed to write before work today. Can I let you in on a secret? I took Friday off from my job because I had planned on going to visit my mother for the weekend. But I didn’t go. Instead I stayed home and spent a massive chunk of the weekend plopped down on the sofa binge watching 3 seasons of a TV series. It was Watchathon week so I took advantage of having access to the previous seasons of the show. It was such a guilty pleasure. Except, it was all pleasure and not really any quilt. I got out and about and took care of what absolutely needed to be taken care of and I took the puppy on some nice walks but that was about it. I still have dishes piled in the sink, the living room is still cluttered, although I did take some time to clear off about half the stuff on the coffee table, I didn’t sweep or mop, I didn’t scrub the shower, I hardly made time for writing or meditating. And I don’t care. It was such a wonderful treat, it was exactly what my brain needed. I barely thought about the infertility stuff this weekend, I didn’t think about work and I didn’t have to think about the current state of this country. Although I did get some reality on Friday night when I heard we’d been shooting missiles at Syria. I poked my head out of my cave long enough to ensure we hadn’t gone to nuclear war and was relieved to find out it wasn’t nearly as catastrophic as I had feared (although dropping bombs is always a very serious matter) it seemed to be short lived and there was nothing I could think of to do at the moment to fix it. So, back into my cave I went and watched 2 more seasons over the course of the next 2 days.

I really feel like I had a vacation even if I barely left my house. I feel refreshed and ready for a new week. But isn’t that a huge part of what makes any vacation great? Getting out of your own head, your usual routine for a while? Disconnecting from our phones and computers (although in this case just replacing it with a different screen. Baby steps.) and just letting ourselves enjoy something? It was such a gift to let myself off the hook for a while and not worry about what I should be doing, and instead just let myself do something light and fun. I had such a wonderful time living in a different place, in a different world, where everyone, well most everyone, was nice to each other, and the community came together to help each other during difficult times, and there was all kinds of love and romance (my favorite part of course). It was a breath of fresh air.

We need to give ourselves that from time to time, especially when stress is high, has been high and it isn’t likely to ease up any time soon. Find a way to give yourself a break, whatever that is for you. Heck, maybe even take a real vacation if you can pull it off. Trust me. You’ll be glad you did.

All the best,

Jane