Last week, I ran away from home.
I mean, I didn’t really run away, like packing up my stuff, leaving a Dear John letter, and changing my name before I hit the mexican border. I just got out of the house. Without announcing it really. I said I would be back and eventually did.
I just needed a break. I needed some SILENT time with no one interrupting me while I’m in the bathroom, cooking dinner, washing dirty drawers or just trying to sit for a second and read a page or two of a book. I needed to just sit in peace for a second. Or a minute. Or half an hour.
Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a “woe is me, I’m a at-home mom, like is rough in my house” entry. I’ve done the grab and dash even before I had kids or a husband. I tend to get to a point where I have to stop for a second and just reboot. Statistics actually say that if you take 10 minutes a day to pray, meditate or just sit in silence, it will exponentially increase your happiness in life. I can see this to be true. I used to be able to just sit and breathe for long periods of time and afterwards I felt, free and focused. I felt ready to take on the world, one smile at a time. This is what I was searching for when I ran away.
I grabbed my keys, told hubby I had to go for a while, go in the car and drove to a parking lot and just sat. No radio and no running car. The phone was off and I just sat and stared at the trees and snow. It was a beautiful 20 minutes and something I didn’t realize I needed so much until I did it.
We sometimes get so worked up with traveling for work or family, catching up on phone calls, e-mails, and bills, that we neglect the raw part of us. Vacations and weekends away are nice, but for those of us that can’t afford that, a moment in silence is a perfect substitution. Whether you do it for a minute or 10, breathing in and breathing out is one of the best things we can do for ourselves nowadays.
Do you meditate, pray or sit in silence daily? Is it something that you would like to start doing or wish that you could do more often?
We do this all the time – allow each other “space” time to regroup and just relax for a bit. If it means just to go and sit on a patio with a cup of tea or just go to the woods for a long walk we try to do as often as possible and at least on the weekends.
I hear ya on the whole running away thing! Sometimes, we Moms NEED Peace and Quiet!!
When I need a break, and don’t really want to drive anywhere, I sit at my desk, take my headphones out, and plug them into the computer. Then, I blog or FB. If any of my family see me with my headphones on, they know not to bother me unless someone is dead or dying. Sometimes I don’t even have any music playing. I just sit there with those headphones on and they are blissfully unaware of my deceit! LOL
But, it sure is nice and quiet!!! 🙂
Sometimes I stay in the shower an extra 5 minutes just to get some peace. With the water running I can’t hear them scream!
I take mommy time outs in the bedroom door locked to just get away from the chaos. I think we all need some time of silence in our hectic loud world. Newest folloer from UBP. Hope you can visit my blog and follow back. Have a great weekend!
I’ve meditated for decades. For something different, I’m now doing walking meditations.
I do it in the morning before breakfast. Walking meditation can be done with or without music.
I have “A Circle of Cast – Libana” CD (1986) on in the background. I program it to repeat one song–“The Earth is Our Mother”for about 15-20 minutes. It’s only women singing–communal singing with no instruments. They have many other CDs.
It’s such a magical time that near the end of the morning meditation, I’m able to pick up my kitty and walk with her in my arms for a couple “laps” in my home.