Wisdom from grandma and grandpa’s house

Sometimes it feels like there’s just too much to do. Too much work piled on the plate, birthday party planning (yeah, that’s me right now), meetings, coordinating, gymnastics pickups and drop-offs. I try not to let it overwhelm me, but every once in a while it feels like it takes over!

Then, this morning, while listening to music and working, I remembered something I always loved about visiting my grandparents house in Washington. While there were many things to love about their beautiful lake house, it is not the memories of the beautiful view, amazing surrounding forest, relaxing deck, or basement full of toys that brings me out of my anxiety-ridden state. It is something much more simple, and something that always made me feel like life was worth slowing down for. It was that every morning, they always had the radio on (much too loud for me) with talk radio shows. Not the shallow, ridiculous talk radio shows that many of the music stations play in the mornings, but thought-provoking, interesting and newsworthy talk radio. And I can’t pinpoint what it is about the talk radio that made me feel like all was so right in the world… but I just loved it. The memory of it pulls me out of my self-absorbed life and helps me think about how somewhere, right now, there are people enjoying their morning and thinking about the bigger picture. Not rushing between tasks, not too busy to stop and think about the world, and just easy enough to do while making a cup of coffee or doing a crossword puzzle.

Life only has to rush past you as fast as you want to. And our grandparents are often the ones in a position to sit and enjoy it just where it is. But for me –  just like our move to a small town with a larger lot of land, our insistence on a reasonable work-life balance where we are able to pursue careers and spend time with our kids, or our priority to travel even when our kids are young and work constantly knocks on the door – I don’t want to wait until I retire to enjoy life at that pace.

And thinking about what it feels like to be in the presence of my grandparents, reminds me what life is supposed to feel like. Breathe in, enjoy each moment, do not let others set my agenda for me. This work I do – I can enjoy it if I want to. This quiet time with the kids at school, with a cup of coffee and freedom to create and work, is really quite amazing.

I think its time to turn on some talk radio.