“Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” – Emily Dickinson

I wouldn’t describe our vacation as ecstasy or pure bliss.

Tomorrow is the last day and actually, it’s been slightly mundane and just right.

We have practiced traveling around the world a bit and we traveled to San Diego and back this winter break. This past week we chose to stay home and I’ve learned a lot.

We actually really enjoyed being home and just living, doing whatever we felt like doing without a big plan and with time to just be without an agenda. We visited with friends. We shared meals. We played. We exercised. We stayed up late and slept in. We enjoyed sleepovers and sleeping in our own comfy beds. We watched movies and played on our electronic devices and we were content.

It didn’t matter what we choose to do, as long as there was time for us to be together and time for us to be ourselves and do our own things.

Today I chose to go on a hike with my friend early in the morning, while the kids were still in bed. At the end of our 5 mile hike, we loved standing and watching a red-tailed hawk enjoy her breakfast, protected and shielded by fallen tree branches, keeping a careful watch over her safety. There was something magical about this.

I did some shopping and came home to a quiet house. I was so thankful that everyone was gone and I could sit at my computer for a short while and just be with my own thoughts. I have several tasks to do and I keep putting them off while we are on “vacation.” I embraced the stillness and enjoyed the moments, with a tinge of guilt. I need to learn to leave that component out of the happiness equation.

This afternoon we went to a friend’s house to watch football and share a meal. I loved watching the kids play board games together and drawing with their new Christmas supplies. It was simple and perfect, despite my terrible headache. Actually, having a headache made me more observant and quiet and I actually enjoyed watching and listening to the conversation in a more relaxed state. Sometimes good things come from bad things. Perfectly, imperfect.

Today, the sense of living was enough. I am, dare I say, ecstatic? That might be a stretch. But I am happy that I’ve finally learned to be ok “staying” home and not having to be looking for the next big adrenaline rush of discovering something new. The mundane and common are really ok and quite enjoyable.

How was your day?