Day 8: The Elixir of Outside

Today was my first day off after full week of work and life. Although I spent time in front of my altar this morning, connected with it, and received the message about the importance of “flow” today, it was a pretty human day. House chores, spoke to some friends, watched some Netflix. By the end of the day, though, I was feeling a little fried from having spent most of the day inside.

Even though I had done some shoveling this morning to clear out what remained of the ice and snow from this past week’s storm, I missed the time of just being outside.

So tonight I took a few minutes and stood on my front step. Just stood. Didn’t ask for any messages. Didn’t seek any answers. I just stood, grateful that the winter’s air was a relatively mild 33 degrees, meaning I could stand out there without having to put on extra layers or brace for the harsh winter wind.

Just standing there, doing nothing, was deeply soothing. The simplicity of that act was matched by its restorative power.

I took a class many years back where the teacher closed the class giving us the “assignment” to be outside an hour everyday, no matter the weather. It wasn’t an hour, but those 5 minutes tonight were delicious.