6 AM and I begin to stir.
The gentle hum of my internal alarm clock wakes me from a solid 9 hour
rest. I blink my eyes open, stretch my
limbs, and touch my feet to the floor. Sunlight
is just peeking through the trees as I unroll my yoga mat. Listening to the birds chirp, I start my day
by saluting the sun. A gentle practice
behind me, I make my way downstairs to the kitchen where a fresh pot of steamy
hot coffee waits. Mug in hand, I make my
way to the table and begin my morning pages.
I sip and write emptying my mind and filling my soul while the rest of
the house is still sleeping.
8 AM and the others make their way to the kitchen. Morning is slow and quiet. We eat together then go our separate ways to
get ready for the day ahead. Sean heads
out to work, and the girls meet at the table, books and laptops in hand, ready
for their school day.
10 AM and the girls work together on a project about
European landmarks and legends, their most recent interest to study. I finish up an essay on the ways simplicity has
changed my life and move on to write a sequence for this evening’s yoga
class. My theme is living in the present
moment.
1 PM and lunch is done.
The girls and I head outside for a little vitamin D therapy and stroll
around the neighborhood. With animated
conversation we cover a few miles letting a white-faced Lucky lead the
way. We make our way back to the house
and play jump rope in the driveway, Lucky happily chewing a stick in the
shade. Back in the house with cool
drinks in hand, we gather pillows, blankets, beanbag chairs and get cozy. An afternoon of pleasure reading and creative
writing follows.
6 PM and Sean walks in the door from work. As a family we sit at the table and enjoy a
healthy, home cooked meal. Dishes are
done before Sean and the girls head back outside for an always continuing game
of bad mitten. I take a moment to listen
to their friendly competition before heading downstairs to my studio for my
evening class. Guiding a small group of
women through their asana practice, I share my love of yoga.
9 PM and it’s time for bed.
The girls are showered and waiting in their jammies. This is the time of night I cherish. E wanting extra snuggles all cozied under
covers and G waiting to read just one more book together before falling asleep,
I tuck in my babies with a tired body and a full heart. Back down the stairs one last time for a
quiet moment with my partner in this journey, I share my gratitude for this
pretty spectacular life that we created.
Pretty amazing, right?
Yeah. This is not my
life…at least not yet, anyway. This is
my dream. This is the life my family is
working to create.
My day currently happens a bit more like this…
6:39 AM Crap. Four
snoozes may have been too many. I slowly
maneuver my stiff, creaking body into a mostly upright position and hobble bleary-eyed
to the stairs. With a death grip on the
banister to avoid falling and bouncing on my bottom all the way down (again), I
make my way to the kitchen. Sean is
making the girls breakfast, while they fall back asleep, heads on the
table. Coffee. I start a pot, spilling water all over the counter top as I pour. While the pot
brews I attempt to pack lunches uncaffeinated.
Ha. My girls will later complain to
me that “you gave me the wrong sandwich” and “she drinks grape juice, mom. I don’t even like it.” After breakfast there is a blur of uniform
pants and too small polo shirts, struggles to find matching shoes, and a mad
dash to scrounge up some cash for pretzel day…
You get the picture, right?
The rest of the day more often than not continues in this fashion. Rush out the door for school, after school
snacks on the run, basketball/dance/girl scouts/orchestra, dinner too late,
shower, bed, repeat…
This is not working for my family anymore. We have decided that busy is overrated. We need slow.
We need simple. We need
peace. This is why we are making a
change. We crave a slower life, and
there is no reason that my dream can’t be our reality.
We are looking for happy.
Happy, for us, is being together as a family, and creating happy is simple – choose
the unconventional, un-busy, peaceful way of living. A life with less really is more. By removing things from our life (stuff from
our home, activities from our schedule) we gain the opportunity for more in the
way of slow, simple, and peaceful. I look
forward to the days to come as my little family makes the deliberate choices to
live with intention and create a life full of meaning and purpose – a life that
defines our own version of happy.
