I Think I Needed That.

 

Last week, I was on vacation.

And I didn’t go into it looking for a reset, a breakthrough, or some big perspective shift.

I mostly wanted sunshine, a good book, coffee by the water, time with my family … and a few days where I didn’t have to think quite so hard about everything.

Turns out, I think I needed exactly that.

Not because everything was perfect.

It wasn’t.

There were still little annoyances. Things that didn’t go according to plan. A condo ant situation that I definitely could have lived without 😂

And because apparently I’m not very good at completely turning my brain off, I still found myself thinking about things at home and work.

But for a few days, life just felt quieter.

There was nowhere I needed to rush. No long list staring at me. No feeling that I should probably be doing something more productive with the next hour.

I could sit by the water and read. Drink my coffee. Look around. Do absolutely nothing for a little while.

And I realized how rare that actually is.

I don’t think we always notice how much we’re carrying around in our heads when we’re right in the middle of everyday life.

The appointments. The emails. The house stuff. The work stuff. The things we need to remember. The things we need to figure out. The things we keep telling ourselves we’ll get to when things calm down a little.

You just get used to carrying all of it.

Until, for a few days, you don’t.

And then you notice.

Now I’m home.

And almost immediately, I feel like I need to catch up.

Laundry.
Groceries.
Emails.
Work.
Appointments.

All the things waiting for me when I got back.

It’s funny how quickly a week away can turn into feeling like you’re behind.

Like … okay, vacation’s over. Time to catch up on everything.

And I’m not sure why I always feel like I need to do that.

I mean, obviously real life is still here.

The laundry needs to get done. The emails need answers. The calendar starts filling back up.

But does all of it need to happen right now?

Probably not.

Maybe I don’t need to make up for the fact that I was gone.

Maybe taking a week off doesn’t mean the week I come back has to be twice as busy.

That’s kind of what I’m reminding myself of this week.

Because I really did need the vacation.

And I don’t want to undo the whole feeling of it by coming home and immediately trying to catch up on everything at once.

So I’m easing back in.

Or trying to, anyway.

The laundry will get done. The emails will get answered. Everything else will still be there tomorrow.

And I think I’m okay with that.

The coffee will be waiting.

See you next Sunday.

Kari xo

I'll save you a seat 💙

Coffee Talk is one corner of The Midlife Edit.

If you like conversations like this, along with the travel ideas, wellness rabbit holes and favorite things I’m always finding … you’ll find more of all of it at karifitz.co