Just BE ffs.
Just BE. ffs.
To quote the infamous words of our millennial icon: “Oops!… I did it again.”
I took time off work, booked that plane ticket, set up my little out-of-office note, only to get all excited when I realised Qatar Airways has free Wi-Fi on board? “OMG”, I mumbled, ”I can start working in the air.”
How cool is tha-NO!
Narrator: She was missing the point once again.
We don’t take time off our employed existence only to to dive headfirst into our side hustles AS SOON AS we can. Rest is important. Rest is an integral part of the process. And if rest doesn’t get rest, it will get pissy quite fucking fast.
After I realised what I was doing, I quietly put my laptop away and stared into the abyss.
Well, not quite. The movie selection was actually solid on board, haha. But it felt weird to just… sit. Before I could fully overthink what was happening, I have to admit, I knocked out. I slept for hours and yes, I had economy seats. Let’s not talk about the condition of my neck after I got off that plane.
To make the beginning of my vacation productive (see? I still didn’t fully get it), I hopped on AirBnB and browsed through the activities tab. I found a woman offering sound healing pretty close to where I was staying and I booked that thing immediately. What better way to unwind than to listen to giant sound bowls that peacefully transport you into a Zen state?
I went the next day and had a lovely interaction with the instructor, who - bless her soul - set the entire thing up only for me, because I was the only participant in that session. I had a beautiful experience, and at the end she asked me if I wanted to pull a card.
And guys, I’m up for sh*t like this! Absolute sucker for anything even remotely psychic. So of course I said yes. After we both did our excited white-girl-hand-wiggle thing, she asked me to set an intention first or ask a specific question before pulling a card.
I did.
The card I pulled?
Well… read the title again (without the swearing,though.)
And that’s when it hit me. I need to fucking relax.
I stopped planning altogether and just went with whatever I felt like doing, which, honestly, is a challenge in and of itself.
Even if you commit to ignoring your coworkers’ messages, refuse to think about work, and truly try to be present, you still get flooded with all sorts of marathon-esque itinerary ideas. Because guess what you’re in beautiful Cape Town, and you need to schedule fun, you IDIOT!
Which, honestly, wasn’t helping my general Zen state I was trying to maintain post sound healing.
On my first day at the Airbnb, I simply enjoyed the space I had carefully chosen weeks before this trip. Heck, the first night I slept for nearly 12 hours because my body needed rest. And rest I shall give.
When I felt like getting coffee. I got coffee. And when the coffee was phenomenal, lo and behold, I went to the same spot again. Because even if I wanted to, my heart couldn’t possibly handle 40 iced lattes a day just for the joy of trying every single coffee spot in Cape Town.
And when I realised that life is just one big game of missing out, I started enjoying the things I did choose more fully.
Presence is something we lose so quickly once we’re back in our routines. The mind snaps into autopilot almost instantly. When we’re travelling, that autopilot is usually switched off. As we move through new places, we realise that moments are fleeting, that not every “must-do activity” can and should be squeezed into a short vacation, and that we might never stand in that same spot again. Literally and figuratively.
I’m not sure about you, but my list of things I haven’t tried, and places I haven’t been to even in my hometown, is embarrassingly long.
And while I’ll be missing the sun, the warmth, the ocean AND AND AND (who’s cutting onions?), I was reminded that the Zen state isn’t found on the other side of the world. It’s found by switching off autopilot, being present, and doing things for the first time, no matter where you are.
Or, more simply put:
Just BE.
ffs.
