It's February 1st!! How is that even possible? I know many think January drags on but for me, I feel like we spent the majority of January cooped up in the house due to the snow and the cold that we hadn't seen since I was a kid (or that's what it felt like anyways!) but I tell ya what, I sure enjoyed that time with my family!!
One of my goals for 2024 is to be more present with the people I surround myself with & in the things that I do. When I started my 2023 reflection time as we moved into 2024, I began to feel like since our kids were born, while I've been a stay-at-home mom, I've always worked on something/had a little part time work from home gig. Before each year comes, I always spend time in reflection mode. Actually, most days I spend in reflection mode and in prayer. It had been placed strongly on my heart that for 2024 and beyond, I really needed to focus on re-prioritizing. Even though I was/am a stay-at-home mom, my side hustles were keeping me out of the moment and focused on what needed to be done next. You could say that in 2023 that really came to a head, and I felt a strong nudge that I needed to re-prioritize what I wanted out of life. I felt like I had spent more time divulged into other things that at the end of the day, don't really matter and I had spent less time with the people and the things that truly matter in my life. I was physically present, but mentally I was encompassed in other things with my mind always running 1,000 miles an hour. I can even remember my husband calling me out several times saying "Just shut your mind off" but I couldn't. Most of the time, it seemed to be almost impossible. Now granted, some of that I believe is just what moms do. As moms, we are always thinking next, behind, ahead, and all of the things in between.
In the era that we live in, we've got social media/the internet always at our fingertips. It's so very easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing and what else is going on around us that we miss out on what is really present around us. As a boss lady, I was focused on how many likes my page was getting, what the post responses were, did I need to respond to someone? so on and so forth. There was one day that I distinctly remember...it was almost like I was having an out-of-body experience (even though I wasn't; ever have those?) where it's like I was looking down and watching myself be on some sort of device or work on the next thing project and my family was right next to me and it's like I wasn't even there. In that moment it hit me..what am I doing?? It was almost as if I had a quick flash before my eyes sighting of missed opportunities and missed moments and I began to feel sad and regretful. I'm not one to believe in regret because I feel that every experience we have in life shapes us to who we are today and to who we are to become. However, this day, I did have regret. Mom regret you could say. I knew in that moment; this wasn't what I wanted. I didn't want to be the person that ignored the ones I loved the most who were sitting right next to me, just to make sure I spent an entire evening to post 1 post or to prep for things that could really wait until tomorrow. I decided in that moment, that it's the memories I need and desire; the time with my family, the time making the moments and the memories with those that are at the very top of my list are the most fulfilling things in my life. I always knew that, I always felt that, but I wasn't living that.
Part of having a simple life I'm coming to find is to take the time to disconnect from the outside world for a time each day. There is SO much going on around us all.of.the.time. For our own health and the health of those around us emotionally and mentally, we need to disconnect. It can be hard because a lot of the time it seems to be more habitual than needed but it's so very worth it.
The inspiration for the wall canvas you see pictured ties back to the above experience; "A house full of things, won't make you as rich as a heart full of memories." I believe whole-heartedly, that is 100% true. We can spend our entire life looking for "things" to make us happy, but in the end, it is the memories we hold most near and dear to our hearts and that, is what encompasses a simple life.
Until Next Time,
-Rochelle