A whole bunch of stuff

In this photo, I have a whole bunch of stuff to do.

True story: This one time, I was so worried my summer would be spent bored and isolated that I planned a whole bunch of stuff to do during said summer.

That was this summer.

As a grown up person experiencing summer vacation for the first time in more than a decade, I was intimidated by the sheer amount of free time I was facing. My solution? Fill up that time with a whole bunch of stuff.

Was this the best solution? I didn't experience the alternative, but I think my summer could have survived with a lot less stuff filling it up.

It kind of shocks me I only have two weeks left (and those two weeks have already been over-scheduled by yours truly).

The whole whole bunch of stuff conundrum has a lot of fans. I've noticed that most of my friends respond with "busy" or "stressed" when asked how they're doing. I've noticed that lately I've been responding with both "busy" and "stressed" when asked how I'm doing.

Um, I'm on summer vacation. What's that about? I do not have to be busy and stressed. I've obviously made the choice to feel this way.

I think it's about the value we put on being busy and stressed. If you're not busy and stressed then what on earth are you doing with your life? You have to be busy and stressed in truly live. Allegedly.

Last weekend, I overbooked myself to the point that my family members noted it. Perhaps, they suggested, I didn't need to schedule a drama camp performance (I missed it, but felt guilty), emancipation party (not my emancipation, someone else's), mountain kayaking adventure (kayaking is awesome), post-kayaking small-town exploration (this included pistachio ice cream so it was a pretty big deal) and freelance faith assignment ("Bible Boot Camp") during 48 hours.

After they noted it, I noted it too. And then I started saying "no" to things. Here's the thing with saying no to things: It is sad to say no to things that sound fun, but it is also insane to say yes to everything.

And: I think it's silly to place value on being stressed and busy. I'm going to work on it. I really liked this article that addresses that topic. (Seriously. Read it.)

And finally: Although it made for a very busy weekend, I certainly do not regret my mountain kayaking adventure. It was super awesome. As seen here.

A kayak built for two

Truth and beauty

Dad

Go Dad Go!

Tandem kayaks are for newlyweds (newly-ish-weds)