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Sweet summer has arrived. Whether it be rituals of vacation on changes in schedule from no school or a easier commute, summer often brings a welcomed feeling of ease and fun.
This quick post is dedicated to bottling that feeling and making the summer feel as long as its rival that starts with a W and ends with a happy farewell. By my observation, kids have it right. Shoes seem to put a damper on a lot of things, be it river wading, running through fresh cut grass or when the summer heat sets in to your social calendar.
Sure, as adults, we’re more aware of threats to bare feet, but you can always wash your feet after picking up some extras and so long as you watch where you step, the rewards will often outweigh the risks. So knock your own socks off by allowing your feet the freedom to connect directly with the earth.
Indoors for a while? Channel your inner kid, feel the peace of the cool tile or nice rug beneath your feet. This simple access to something neat, something different and something humbling (when grounding yourself through your very feet), can impact your moment and even your day. So take a moment and allow your feet (and very directly, your soul), the chance at a kid encounter. #ShoesOffThisSummer.
On the whole, most things in nature are peaceful and happy. Dancing streams, blossoming flowers, or grazing horses. They are at peace with their environment and couldn’t think of a place they’d rather be. They are happy with themselves, their friends, their homes or space they’re in.
Animals are related to humans in many ways, regardless of your belief system. Animals in their natural habitats are free and fully present in their spaces. Picture the last time you saw dolphins jumping. What happened to your body? Did you drown out the sounds around you, shift your thought to their state (playful presence) and maybe your jaw relaxed a little. Potentially, maybe a smile grew across your face and a peaceful trance set in.
Replicating this feeling will do wonders for your living. Try it today. In support of frolicking like our fellow animal brethren is AV Architects + Builders and House of Steep. Please share your ideas and reactions to present living and observing nature for a healthy dose of peace.
For further reading, consider “Grace and Tranquility: Natural Peaceful Paths through Every Living Day” by Eric Alan, which offers gentle reminders of peaceful navigation alongside what truly matters each day.
Summer reading list. If there isn’t enough time to tackle that list, save for vacation. Later, there will be time. Does this sound like anything else in your life?
This week’s reflection isn’t about putting off things that you could do today (though we support just doing it now!). Rather, this blog entry is about how much value we put on vacation and other milestones like the holidays, retirement or a life event.
Stated simply, turn everyday to a holiday, even if it’s only for a 10 minute respite, to glorify your day’s work, your relationships, your blessings. There is no time like the present to celebrate your milestone (today), that is as beautiful a gift as any once a year or once a career event.
With this approach, you may not need to look so much to milestones for joy. Trying this approach, your expectations can easily be met for the vacation or milestone, and you can look for new pleasures that you may have overlooked otherwise by being focused on finally making it to the milestone.
Finally, in addition to being inspired by the beach house architecture, be inspired by enjoying your milestone for something unique this year – like an even deeper appreciation for your life, your family, the location of your event, etc.
In promotion living for today and to a lesser extent for tomorrow is AV Architects + Builders and House of Steep. Please share your ideas and reactions to present living and finding ways to gratify yourself everyday.
For further reading, consider Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz, M.D., which offers ways to live meaninfully and happily today.
When you’re young, time doesn’t seem to matter. The fortress you built or the dandelion necklace that took at least 10 tries to perfect were the highlights of your day. If you’ve forgotten this child-like state, try watching the youth at the beach. Even in the hot sun, kids can play for hours – digging in the sand or crashing in the waves – and not even realize how much time has passed. Remember how it was when you were a child? Deadlines (home by dinner) were present, but the time involved completing a project or mud pie feast didn’t matter because you were doing something you were really into…something that meant a lot to you.
Later in life, responsibilities, children, deals, the demand du jour have an ability to not only help us be keenly aware of time and deadlines, but also help us forget that what we’re doing does in fact mean a lot to us. Moreover, even if we do thoroughly enjoy an aspect of the day, how long can that feeling last with the other balls in the air?
One way to try and make the good feelings last longer (like when time didn’t matter), is to catch yourself in the moment. By honoring that moment and how you feel will help you remember it a little more readily, because studies show that emotions do help secure and recall memories. By recognizing how you feel in a moment, and paying homage to its meaning to you, you’re giving that experience a chance to be properly filed in your memory bank, before moving onto the next demand. Try this approach particularly on days when you know you’ll be busy, but doing things you know you’ll enjoy. You may not feel like a kid when time doesn’t matter, but you’ll certainly remember your day’s events a little more vividly, so those happy memories will be on the ready for recall when you need a reminder of a carefree place in time.
In promotion of your timeless and high-emotion 8 year old mind where ever you may go is AV Architects + Builders and House of Steep. Please share your ideas and reactions to present living and finding ways to carry your youthful spirit always.
For further reading, consider topics on The Role of Emotion in Memory by Dr. Fiona McPherson, which explores the science behind how we strengthen our memories and minds through emotion and other mindful exercises.
Ah, sweet vacation. We get excited for, look forward to, and channel our happy thoughts towards an upcoming vacation week. Sometimes, it can’t get here soon enough. A tough week at work? No worries – this time, next week, vacation will be here and all will be good. Looking forward to such a peaceful and relaxing time is often what we need to keep our cortisol (stress) levels down and our positive thoughts winning. Thank goodness we have rituals and norms that send us away every year for a unique experience, or simply to step away from our daily worlds to enjoy some time off.
Especially when your vacation is pure bliss – you’re able to get there fast, settle in and turn off the Smartphone from the moment you arrive, and totally disconnect. It is something that is set apart from your daily or weekly experience, is held in such high regard in your mind for ways to be peaceful, and of course, sadly, is unique and isn’t as easily accessible throughout the year.
Some people are fortunate enough to have a weekend vacation home that is utilized to the fullest, several weeks off from work per year, or have the ability to take days here and there. If this is the case, perhaps their entire years’ relaxation isn’t categorically defined by a week or two at the beach in August. Good for those people! For the rest, we’re here to help find ways to relax throughout the year, so it doesn’t come down to counting the days to a future target.
- Find a local park, tea house, or other destination that you find peaceful and go there frequently enough to find it rewarding but not as often as you may take it for granted.
- Call a friend who you don’t see often and ask what they do for relaxation. Simply appreciating the story they tell can spur ideas for your own zen.
- Consider remodeling your home. Create spaces that fit your lifestyle and leave you feeling blissful and harmonious all year round.
- Rent a book on Feng Shui from the library – learn about ways you can transform your office or bed room to balance the chi energy in your life.
- Take a walk when you feel stress rising. Getting moving will cause the blood to flow and the endorphins (the feel good hormones) to circulate.
Do something that feels like a treat often: every day or every week. The main thing is to make a point of it and follow through. It’s easy to say you’ll start to, but it takes a commitment to repeat the behavior so it will have an impact on your peace and relaxation.
In promotion having vacation-mind often is AV Architects + Builders and House of Steep. Please share your ideas and reactions to present living and finding ways to bring vacation bliss home.
For further reading, consider 365 Ways to Relax Mind, Body & Soul by Barbara Heller, which explores unique and fun ways to meditate, relax, and step aside from your daily life.
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