backyard camping - a break from the routine
We spend so much time as intentional mothers creating purposeful rhythms for our days. We want to feel productive and in control, but it's also important to know when to let go.
Yesterday was Elijah's Liberia Day, the day we celebrate when we first met him seven years ago. We always watch video footage from his first year at home.
As we watched and remembered baby Elijah (what a cutie!!), I was struck by the fact that so many of our memories center around times outside of our normal routine--holidays, birthdays, vacations, moments with extended family.
And yet a day-to-day routine enables us to accomplish the details of life that allow for those memory-making times to take place. You don't need to feel guilty for taking a break from your normal rhythm--providing you have a normal rhythm to fall back on once your break is over.
My friend Renee from the blog FIMBY recently described this as the "usually, not always" principle, and thinking of it in those terms makes so much sense to me.
We crave freedom and the ability to be spontaneous--we need that to feel alive and to enjoy our days with our kids. But all spontaneity and no work would lead to a lack of peace in our home. The balance lies in not having balance(!), but in seesawing in between the two for whichever is right in the moment.
We can have both--spontaneity and a schedule. And we can feel the freedom of letting go, knowing that the framework we've worked so hard to build around our family will still be strong when the time is right to return to it.
"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."
~ Albert Einstein
