As it turns out, I took a five day break from blogging 🙂 I mentioned in my last post (illustrious Day 300, no less!) I was going camping with my mom last week. This was my first camping trip in eight years (!), and my first time getting out my outdoor gear for a trip in four years (I wrote about it, a Lake Tahoe trip with my brother cut short after arriving the day of a snow storm, for which we had not prepared). I had a great time camping. My mom is a joy to be with, especially doing things outdoors, which she loves. It was also great for me to break out of the routine and do something different. I found the trip invigorating. When I returned to Sacramento on Amtrak on Friday afternoon, I basked in enjoyment, appreciating the people around me at the station and enjoying the view of the water from inside the train.
I must say, I also very much enjoyed the mellowness of camping. This has been a theme in my blogging recently: appreciating a more balanced and easy-going life than I had during intense marathon training of 2021 and 2022. Believe it or not, it was a revelation not having to recover (physically, mentally, emotionally) after the camping trip; I had gotten used to intense experiences that required time to restore and replenish. Even my triumphant Bay-to-Breakers run with my brother two weeks ago took some recovery time to regroup.
As far as taking a blogging break, this means I won’t finish the second year of 365 Blogging on the same day I finished my first year. I loved realizing the possibility of this synchronicity a month ago, yet I decided I didn’t want to be inflexible with myself just to get finished by a certain date (!). I have already proven my ability to do that. Plus, this is the blog where I get to knowingly break my own rules.
Finally, I guess right now I am more drawn to flexibility than the rigid pursuit of a goal.
Onward we go…