Sun Breaks:

Learning to Be with The Earth

The rhythm of my days has changed so much over the past 3 weeks. With these times of staying and home to keep ourselves and everyone healthy right now, life has slowed down and given us time to stop and be in the present moment more.

My days have changed in many ways. I make sure to get plenty of sleep, I feel truly rested when I start the day. We all share a common workspace now, our large dining table. My husband works at the end of the table. My son and I share our other laptop. I usually do my writing early in the morning or in the afternoon so that he can work on his school assignments right after breakfast.

I just love how life has slowed down. We are not going many places so there is not a sense of rush, a sense of urgency not to enjoy something because we must race out the door. We now make a schedule that works for us all. We all now must co-exist in the house together, do our work and live our lives here. We have our basic routines and schedules, but we are able to stop and enjoy things much more.

I have especially noticed that now I take more time to go outside. I feel much more connected to nature and the earth now. Before, I would think that I’d get outside “later” or go for a walk someday. Now that our world has stopped and our focus has narrowed, it is something that I truly enjoy with all of my heart. Now, when there is a sun break, I go outside and go for a garden walk. I take a true look at each plant, noticing how it’s grown. I look closely at the blooms starting to form on the apple trees. I get excited about the lilac blooming soon. I notice that the lily of the valley plants are coming up as a surprise from the earth. I feel the sun on my face, I feel the warmth on my back as I do a little bit of weeding. I truly care for our garden every day.

Even on days when it is fairly cloudy or wet outside, if it isn’t pouring down raining, I take my garden walks at least once or twice a day. It’s a way to refresh myself, to be grounded, to connect to my spirit and the the planet’s energy. I have noticed this year that our plants are looking healthier than ever before. I feel that maybe the slowdown and the quality of our air have given all plants new life. They are relishing this time of a new awakening, of a shift that allows them to grow and flourish like never before.

While this new life at this time may feel restrictive and small, it opens up a way for us to truly slow down and watch how nature is unfolding all around us. I can see daily how enriched the earth feels now that there is cleaner air, now that we are all appreciating our gardens, our yards, our neighborhoods. This time causes us to celebrate those sun breaks. To go out and rejoice in the gifts that we have already been given. Gifts that because of our former hurried lives we barely took the time to notice.

Are you going outside for the sun breaks?

With lots of love,

Trista