The Romance of Being Busy

Dear Friend,
Recently I was scrolling through Instagram and I came across this quote:


"Im tired of people romanticizing overexertion. Exhausted is not the new chic, coffee (though a delicious necessity) is not a food group, and running on fumes is not admirable. Why do we hold pedestals for sleepless nights, breakdowns and inner turmoil? Are those things really to aspire to? Self care, balance, the ability to know, when your body, mind and spirit, need to take a step back. Those are things that we should admire. We have to stop blurring the line between 'commitment' and self endangerment. Because too many people are burning out before they have a chance to truly shine."

And it really hit me that I, like many others, believe in the lie of overexertion. Actually I'll go as far as to say that I admire those people that "have no time!" to do anything but work and work and work. As someone who is in their young twenties it is believed that we should be going to all the social events, working into the late hours and that sleep happens when we are dead! Let me be a bit more personal and say that I struggle with calm. I struggle with taking time to dream, to relax, to think. I struggle because in my mind the inspirational people are the ones who are go-getters who don't take breaks! With further reflection, however, that is not the case. 
Some of the best people in my life have impacted me the most because they weren't exhausted and had time to spend with me. Exhaustion, as we all know, makes us irritable and burnt out and fluttered and stressed. 
I've been working part-time for the last few months in retail, and quite honestly enjoying it. I have time to get together with people, to clean my house, to just write and pray. These things that I haven't had time for before are now in my life and they enhance it so much; I think I am better for it. Where my first reaction to this extra time was to fill it with activities and more work, I realize how immature that was of me. I wanted 
only to work more so that I saw myself as more important and worthy. 
Upon further refection (because I am not overexerted! Just kidding...) there are a lot of verses that point out how rest and reflection should be a part of our daily lives.

Philippians 4: 6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with  thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which  surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ  Jesus.”

Psalm 131:2 “But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.”

And this one hit it on the head for me..
Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. -Ecclesiastes 4:6

That's what been on my mind lately. I hope that from this you see that I still very much believe in hard work and dedication, it is just that going too far has consequences that I have seen in my own life. 

.Your much more relaxed Hippie, 
Summer

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up

Dear Friend,
It's been a few months since I have blogged anything but to those that don't know, the hubs and I packed up our things, threw them in the car, and traveled across Canada to live in PEI. It's been an adjustment to be back on the island after eleven years for me, and for Adam it's a whole new experience. In these few months Adam has been helping my grandparents build a house on the water, Adam and I celebrated our first year of marriage,we acquired Adam's brother  and have gained another cat, Achilles. (Because pets are our "achilles heel") . I also have a new job working in retail, which, surprisingly I have never done before. It's part-time and I am very excited for the spare time to try some new creative outlets and be available for more things.
As we all know by now, in a few months absent from the scene of writing, I have  made some noteworthy bruises on either my knees or my heart. The one I am to share today starts on a high note. I had just come out of a successful interview and was heading toward the bus stop when the wind picks up and it downpours. It seems as though I had been heading to the wrong bus stop at this point because the bus driver tells me that the bus I was looking for is across the street. I hustle over to the street across and find a shelter where there is another lady who is drenched and we begin to laugh at ourselves. We strike up a conversation and soon afterwards the bus that we are both waiting for arrives. I insist the lady goes on ahead of me as I teeter with my high heels onto the bus. The bus floor is very slippery from the rain as I fish out my money for the bus. As I go to put the money into the slot, the bus begins to go and I feel myself falling on this poor lady in front of me. I am now on top of her and I am 50 shades of red. I am apologizing and trying to get up. The lady gets up mostly unscathed but I cant get up with my high heels on. I try taking my heels off but I keep slipping around the bus on my butt. As this is happening I get yelled at from the bus driver that I need to "get off the floor, lady!" I try taking  my high heels off but we are making a turn and I end up only taking one heel off by the time the turn is made;  by doing so I have put myself in a tuck position in which now I am rolling around on the floor. A man nearby is now laughing at me and  tries to help me up as I am trying to take off my other heel, but to no avail. The driver stops the bus and I scoot my bum off the bus and try to act like nothing has happened with one heel off and my pink dress splashed with mud,  as the lady I fell on gets off the bus and flips her hair at me.

All this to say that things haven't changed much in the last few months and I still am having many adventures in my new homeland. ;) I can't wait to see what happens next!

Your clumsy hippie,

Summer

Dealing with FOMO

Dear Friend,
I was recently with my family when I admitted to having a serious case of FOMO, or "fear of missing out" when I am away from them.I feel as though I miss out on so many moments and jokes and bonding and well, everything!!!!  And let's face it, I am not the only one that feels this way when I am away from family and friends. Our society today is all about showing off the life that we have as better than the other person. We are conditioned to make others be jealous or fearful of what could have been memories for ourselves. I think a lot of us are feeling the effects of FOMO even more as we have social media that pointedly is there to make us know what everyone else is doing- and isn't that more fun than staying in and reading a book or working on a project? What I am realizing is that I need to let this FOMO go. This is an ongoing process, but I’m finding that it starts with learning when to put my phone down, log out and unplug and enjoy what I do have around me. To stop and pray and say, "God you have given me this life, and right now you want me to live it well, help me see what I should be doing with my time and let go of what I cant control." 
   Social media certainly has its perks, but we simply cannot use it to compare our lives to the lives of others. We cannot allow it to be the thief of our joy.We also have to understand that at any given moment we will be missing out on something. I miss out  on moments with my family and friends and that is ok. My friends and family are still a big part of my life, but that means letting go of the gripping fear that my life is less important than the rest. We cannot be everywhere all of the time. We cannot do it all; there will be experiences in life that we just have to miss out on. Guess what? That’s okay! Your worth isn’t measured by how social you are or how many parties you attend, your worth is so much more than what others are seeing on Instagram.

Being content means not looking for constant outside validation, but rather, being happy with who you are and what you are not. It means being perfectly delighted by your own company and confident in the way you spend your time, even if that means turning down an invitation to stay in for a night of rest.

 "Some people are hardwired to be extroverts, bouncing from one event to another. They never crave times of solitude. Not all of us have that personality.To both the introverted and extroverted reader, find ways to become your own best friend. The confidence gained when we learn to be comfortable alone serves to make us a better friend for when we are back in the presence of others." -Darling Magazine

So calm down, put your phone away and don’t worry about what you may be missing. Choose to focus on where you are right now, who you are with right now, and make the memories count that you have been given! 

Trying to be present!

Your Nomad,

Summer

Our Own Refrigerator Story

Dear Friend,

Since I was very little my father would tell us a story about a time that I hardly remember (as I was too young to remember those days) but it is a story I loved being told again and again. I am now going to retell it to you...

"There once was a man and a woman who were young and in love (my parents) who had three small children (my sisters and I) whom they loved. This man and women both worked very hard as teachers and did honest and good work, but they did not have much money or possessions as they worked for very little pay. It wasn't uncommon for them to be short of money but they had faith that God would take care of them. One morning, however, before church this man and woman didn't have any food left in their fridge or cupboards and though when asked what they did for that morning meal, it is still unknown as to what they fed themselves and their kids. They head off to church, though the man knew he was going to have to pawn off the scarce things that they did have so that they could buy a few meals for the next few days. Once the church service was over, the Sawatsky family headed home and were desperate. What were they going to do? What could they do? The mother went to the fridge hoping that they might have glanced over something that would be edible and, there, right in front of her eyes was a crisp $200.00. No note, no explanation, but the man and woman knew that God was taking care of them through thick and thin and that they would not take what happened to them lightly. They still to this day don't know the person or persons who gave them the money to them."


This story, as I said before, is a story I love so much about God's provision and love for my family and His grace. I also remember thinking that I too wanted a story like this to be able to my children one day about how God provided for Adam and I when we were in dire need. 
That day came, and we ourselves now have a refrigerator story. Adam and I had just come out of church and headed for the car to go home and we spotted an envelope on our windshield. I took it from it's spot and we opened it in the car together. The envelope included quite a large sum of money that was the exact amount we needed for a bill we had and no note from who it was. It was such a humbling moment as Adam and I looked at each other and as I cried and as Adam prayed a thanks. We aren't too public about our needs and we definitely don't proclaim that we weren't doing well, but that made it all the more special.God laid it on someone (or a few people) to give to us what we didn't have and it blessed us more than just a bill being paid off. It was a reminder of His grace and His love for us and that though we struggle, His hand is lifting us up. 
When Adam and I got engaged we had quite a few people saying that we should wait until we were more stable financially. I remember such words as we got nervous as we crunched numbers together and took on extra work knowing that whenever people start off it is hard. I had an agenda to prove that Adam and I could do this on our own, and humbly now I can say that indeed that I was lying to myself. We have only gotten through these last few months with His leading and others listening and being there for us. How much this little heart of mine has learned in these last 8 months! How my heart feels as though it could burst with the care He has taken to give my soft soul some more lessons. 
As I write this again I am crying because He takes care of His children so well. Though we have hard times, (and are in the midst of hard times) He gives and gives and gives. 
He gives hope, He gives purpose, He gives life, He gives us renewal. We are stable in Him and our pride is legitimate once we give it back to God. 

I had to write about this because I want to remember, when I forget, that His hand is always lifting us up. Trials aren't bad when we can see the teaching that they bring us. Being stable is something we have no control over in the long run anyway. Our lives are meant to bring glory to Him and nothing else. 

Your red rimmed eyed hippy, 

Summer