I'm not sure if I have mentioned it here before, but my family and I dedicate one weekend a month to what we call Soul Weekend. The only rule for Soul Weekend is that there are no plans made in advance. We do what comes natural and at our own pace. We listen to, and assess, our individual needs and we go from there. We started Soul Weekending when we noticed with increased frequency that life was just zipping right past and large chunks of time just seemed to disappear. I have to admit that I experience a fair deal of anxiety when well meaning friends, relatives, strangers even, see that we are new parents and let us know that kids grow up fast. They urge us to really make sure we enjoy every minute. We do our best to live in each moment and to be fully present, aware, open. But we wanted to be even more intentional and deliberate about it and that spurred the advent of Soul Weekend. I was inspired while reading this book in which the author talks about clearing the calendar and halting activities outside the house when his children come down with what he calls a soul fever. The way he defines a soul fever is essentially not feeling your best on an emotional level.
Our Soul Weekends have quickly become very special and highly anticipated around here. After finishing a major project on Thursday, Ryan took Friday off work and we decided to dedicate all three days as a Soul Weekend mostly because we did not take one in December. And then something magnificent happened. When Ryan got home on Thursday, he realized that he also had Monday off for the holiday! We were blessed and pleasantly surprised with four days. Heaven sent, I tell you.
So here is what we did. On Friday, Ryan made breakfast tacos and we putzed around the house. We had lunch in Hollywood and a delicious cup of coffee here. While we were there, we put some Christmas gift cards to good use and bought a single ceramic filter to make pour over coffee at home. Some mornings you just can not commit to an entire pot in the Chemex. Later we went to Menchies and kicked around a ball in a nearby park. For dinner we ordered Thai and watched Fantastic Mr. Fox. I finished knitting Rylie's sweater and dug right in with the seaming.
On Saturday we worked on individual projects the whole day. I'll show you mine tomorrow. We took a stroll around the neighborhood after dark which is so fun to do sometimes to change things up.
On Sunday we went to the Long Beach Flea Market and I bought all kinds of fun little gadgets for some upcoming art projects that I have planned for Rylie and I. On the way home, we discovered a whole new pocket of our town that we never realized existed, it was thrilling and we schemed up ways in which we could move into the new (to us) neighborhood. Later on, after Rylie was asleep, Ryan and I played game after game of Yahtzee, maybe seven in total. It has been so long since we pulled that game out.
And today, we went out for breakfast at a great little dive-y diner called Dinah's. Afterwards, it was such a pretty day that we headed for the beach and walked out on the rocks (I'd never done that before and that is what Soul Weekend is all about). After that we took a ride up the PCH through Malibu while Rylie snoozed in the car. We stopped at a little organic farm nestled next to the Ocean and bought some of our favorite balsamic lemonade. We stopped for snacks at a tiny Mexican cantina. This is the same place we went on the day were engaged, remember that? At this point you may be thinking that Soul Weekend sounds a lot like food weekend, and you would be right.
It has been a wonderful four days and much needed after all of the activity of the holidays and then several days (weeks) of all of us being sick. It is pure bliss - no schedule, no time constraints - just being. As our hearts dictate. At the end of Soul Weekend Ryan always asks; when do we get to have our soul life? We're working on it - we are working on it.