Escape

The Days of Our Lives

Jeanna G1 Comment

I read today that John Aniston recently passed away. He played Victor Kiriakis on NBC’s Days of Our Lives for a very long time. This news flashed memories from childhood across my mental screen. My grandma started watching the show when it first aired back in 1965. She was a housewife, and everyday she took an hour off from the cooking and cleaning and child-rearing to enjoy her program. When I was in Kindergarten, my mom ran a daycare out of our house. I attended the morning program at school, so I was getting home as she was putting all of her charges down for a nap. This was also right on time to lie on the couch with my mom while she watched the same soap opera.

Both my grandma and mom worked their tails off, and they deserved much more than an hour-long break everyday. I work a full-time job outside of the home, so I don’t get to follow in my matriarch’s footsteps and watch tv daily from 1-2pm, but I deserve a break, nonetheless.

I heard a devotion the other day that really struck a chord with me. It was about the sacredness of the mundane (I apologize I do not know the title or author of the devotion). We can practice this by slowing down, and in those moments we have an opportunity to “discover a spark of joy,” even in activities that we do as routine or out of necessity, and not necessarily out of spontaneity or want.

Every day I’m rushing around and thinking about what’s next, instead of being present. My grandma and mom were wise women to know they needed to stop and take a break every day, for themselves. Sometimes we need to escape in order to be more present. And the author of the devotion is right about slowing down, because we all know that, “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”

Field Trips

Jeanna GLeave a comment

I’m a ‘Been There, Done That” kind of gal, so I’m usually looking for new things to do, or ways to make old things new. However, I make exceptions when it comes to sharing previous experiences with my daughter. There are so many things I’ve done that I think my daughter would also enjoy, so I make it a point to recreate some of my childhood experiences for her.

I had such an opportunity this past weekend while she and I were back in Connecticut visiting family. We arrived on a weekday, so while my relatives were working and in school, I decided to take my daughter on one of my childhood field trips. I was about her age when my class took a field trip to Mystic Aquarium. She and I love sea animals, so I knew she’d be game. Sure enough, she had a ball running alongside the beluga whales, clapping along with the sea lions, and petting the stingrays. Afterwards, we went to Mystic Pizza where I could reminisce more from my childhood. Then we shopped around and got some ice cream, because that’s just what you do in a town like Mystic.

Baby Beluga!

Field trips from childhood are definitely worth repeating with your own children, especially if you no longer live in the town where you grew up. It’s fun to go back and take in what has changed and what has withstood the test of time. After so many years, an old experience was practically new, and just as fun. Next time I will stay longer so that she and I can take field trips to the Mark Twain House and Sturbridge Village.

What were your childhood field trips?

Just Like Riding a Bike

Jeanna GLeave a comment

I loved my 10-speed bike. I rode it to the park, the swim center, my friend’s house. I even rode it to school one evening, without asking permission, to watch my 6th grade crush practice basketball. (I got in a lot of trouble for that one.) Bike riding was my hobby. I loved tearing through town. The best rides were the ones with no destination, the ones on which I could just coast, hands-free, and enjoy the scenery of my beautiful town.

Then my 10-speed got stolen. And then I started dating a guy with a license and a car. And then my best friend got her license and a car. And finally, I got my license. No more bike rides.

Then I went to college and got a bike because campus was huge. But then my bike got stolen.

Later on I moved to Maine and made daily bike trips to the beach, and I was reminded of why I loved it so much. But then my bike got stolen.

Then I had a baby and bike rides weren’t even on my radar. Until…

My daughter and I flew out to visit a childhood friend and her wife in Chicago. They got her a babysitter, and they got me a bike. Together, the three of us tore through the city on a cold November night, stopping to hydrate at the local tap rooms. It was a blast! The sights whizzing by, the wind in my hair, trusting my body to move in ways that I forgot it could. All good things, and all the result of being reminded of how I choose to love life.

Life is full of distractions and we can easily find ourselves out of our elements, and the things we love to do somehow get sidelined as the humdrum takes the field. The good news is that remembering how you love life is just like riding a bike. We can take off where we left off, we just need to start pedaling! It helps to have old friends who remind us of who we are, but how we love life should come as second nature. So get your wheels turning and reminisce about what makes you happy, then change gears, and enjoy the ride!