Embrace Quiet.

My public service announcement. 

A long weekend isn't always about catching up. It can be about coming back to yourself.

We spent the weekend at the cabin. Both relaxing and doing the kind of work that's equal parts labor and therapy. Hauling, fixing, clearing, but also hiking, playing with the dogs, and reading. Limited notifications. No earbuds. No agenda beyond what the sun, the cabin, and what the land asked of us.

Here's what I noticed:

We're far too tethered to our tech.

The buzz of a phone has become a summons.

The scroll, a reflex.

The dopamine hit, a substitute for presence.

But what if we didn't answer the summons today, next weekend, or when we're with our family and friends? What if we prioritized ourselves and our relationships? 

What if the first thing we saw when we woke wasn't a screen, but the light filtering through trees? Or back home in the city, the light through the window.

What if we traded our feeds for fresh air, and our serotonin came from the sun, not a scroll?

What if we moved our bodies without layering it with podcasts or noise? Just our breath, the birds, the dogs? And maybe the quiet snoring from a well-deserved nap.

There's a reset available to us if we allow it. 

Stillness isn't passive. 

Quiet isn't empty. 

When we pause the stream of inputs, we can actually hear ourselves again. 

When will we stop giving away our time and peace to others by responding to their texts, emails, and calls, instead of or before we give to ourselves? We become more present with those closest to us, rather than giving our time to those who "ping" us. We invest in the relationships that matter - before the ones that may feed our ambition, ego, or insecurities? 

This past weekend, I listened. 

To the crunch of gravel under boots.

To the creak of old wood.

To the sound of the birds, and to what my body is saying when I finally slow down enough to hear it.

We don't need a productivity plan for every weekend. 

Sometimes, we just need to be.

Here's to whatever version of “reset” you need. Be brave enough to take it.