It is the last day in October and I am drying my rosemary-scented hair in the bright, mid-afternoon sun. Beanstalk is playing, uh, learning at school, and that gives me two and a half hours of uninterrupted “me” time. Time to reflect. Meditate. Write. Create. Time to de-stress.
It is also Halloween, but I really could not care less. I have never been into this wanna-be-holiday. To me, it is just an annoying thing between fall and Thanksgiving and Christmas. I mean, do we really need one more holiday, this time of the year? And can’t I just enjoy the lighted, leafy garland I finally hung on our dining room window, two weeks ago, for ONE minute? Can’t I gaze at my dried orange and pinecone centerpiece a little while longer? Oh, I guess that would kind of be my bad, for not putting it out sooner. But for real. Now I’m supposed to replace the dried oranges, and the pine cones, with spider webs and skulls? Uh. No thank you! It’s bad enough, that by Thanksgiving, I need to put up Christmas. And somewhere in there, I need to squish in, me and my daughter’s birthdays. Those in themselves, would be holiday enough for me! But seriously. It stresses me out. And that’s not even touching the whole costume thing, or any of the other reasons why I don’t celebrate this holiday. The idea of spending a hundred bucks on cheap costumes for all of us, that we will wear only once, puts me into a permanent financial coma.
Maybe I am just too friggin’ practical.
Or maybe, perhaps? I am learning to say NO to things that are not worth the stress they put me under. I hope it’s the latter. Not that it’s so bad, being practical. But…
Back to the rosemary and the sunshine.
A good friend, who also happens to be my chiropractor, asked me the other day what I do to de-stress. I hadn’t really thought about it, recently.
But it’s a legitimate question. Especially now, as we head straight for one of the most stress-loaded times of the year. After we figure out where to store the halloween costumes, we gotta buy gifts with money we don’t have, and put on dinners and find something to wear for family pictures, and banquets and balls. Makes me wonder: why do we even do this to ourselves? And that’s not even scratching at the political drama that will engulf us for the next three weeks. Just talking about it, makes me wanna move to the Dominican and forget about all of it. And just live!
The reality is that we all need something that combats the beating that our nervous system takes on a daily basis. Just like we need to balance all the junk we eat, with some raw veggies every now and then. Or if you’ve been on a juicing/health binge, like I’ve been, you need to balance all the raw veggies, with a chocolate chip cookie, every now and then! You get the idea. It’s all about balance.
In the same way, if you’ve been filling your brain with negative thoughts and depressing media, for your body’s sake, put something peaceful and relaxing in there, sometimes. Oh and then, consider turning off the tv, for awhile. It’s actually really good for you!
Research shows that stress is acidifying to our bodies. Who knew?? You and I both need to seek out those things that alkalize our stressed-out minds.
So, this. This is what I do. I walk outside. I take a deep breath. I let my hair dry and I let go of worry. Well, at least most of it. And for whatever’s left, I take a bath. Talk to God. Listen to music. Paint. Create food. And dream of the Dominican.
What about you? What do you do with the stress in your life? What are some of the things that you’ve found, that help you de-stress? Please share them in the comments section. I would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, I am going to breathe in this perfect day. (It would almost seem like spring if my garden was not dead, and the trees were not bare).
I may also try that hot yoga that my chiro recommended. Because I need all the help I can get, with these treacherous times that I live in.