Does anyone else find it really hard to leave the house this time of year? Things are starting to feel a lot more like home around here lately with the completion of our bathroom remodel, lots of furniture deliveries, and our stair install and I hardly ever want to leave! I like to cozy up on the couch with my laptop, open the shutters so I can watch the world go by outside, and work with a blanket strewn over my lap and a cup of tea in my hand. It can be easy to blame the hermit inside of me on the weather but occasionally I need someone to give me that little push that gets shoes on my feet and sends me out the door. This morning my mom sent me a quick email that simply said, "It's a beautiful morning. Go take a walk."
I sometimes associate movement like a "walk" with exercise a little too much and I think I end up putting pressure on myself to have a "good run" and I forget that I can just put my shoes on and walk when I feel like it, run when I feel like it, stop and look at things when I want.... There is no pressure for something to always be monumental or a success- sometimes the true pleasure really just lies in the journey. Often I think we get going so fast that we lose track of the why. In a world where so many things in our life are immediate, slowing down can be as difficult a task as speeding up. But, guys, I realized this morning that there is no drill Sargent barking order at my heels to "get MOVING!".. no one blowing a whistle at some arbitrary finish line ..
So, I took my mom's advice, shut my computer off, laced up my shoes, grabbed my iphone, pressed play on the latest episode of This American Life and hit the pavement. It really was a beautiful morning... rain is rolling in and the leaves have officially changed into bright reds and oranges and I couldn't help but wish I had done this sooner. More winter walks (with no pressure to run!) will definitely be in my future.
From my walk by the Rose Garden on the left and, of course, home isn't all bad either- the fall-scape view from my desk.
I post a lot of these kinds of iphone images daily here and on my instagram.. Username : MegPerotti