Mini Retreats

View from the Adironcak Chairs

          Girls read Nancy Drew, boys read The Hardy Boys. Great summer reading, imagining yourself as one of the main characters. I, personally, never read any Nancy Drew books so I don’t know much about them, but I devoured the Hardy Boys when I was growing up, written they said by Franklin W. Dixon, who actually never existed. Instead, in reality, they were written by a team of writers who took turns.

          I still have an almost complete collection of them, and enjoy reading one once in a while, sitting down, reminiscing over simpler themes of life. Notice that I didn’t say simpler “times” of life because life has always been complicated on some level. After more than 7 ½ decades in this realm of existence, I have come to realize that some times are more intense than others, but still require deciphering truth from untruth.

          The times we’re in now are definitely not simple nor quaint nor encouraging. There’s very little to feel inspired by unless you are determined not to get pulled down into the swamp of depression and anxiety—which can happen for any one of us any day of the week. I have to say, though, that there are sources that we can turn to if we start to feel overwhelmed by politics (not going to mention names here, though I’m tempted to) and social unrest.

          For instance, leisurely reading the poetry of Robert Frost or Billy Collins on an afternoon or morning break in your schedule can take you to a quieting, sometimes amusing, place. There are many other poets that can also do that, but those two happen to be my favorite. I call the experience “spiritual” even though many might disagree with that, but at 77 I don’t care.

          At other times I like to just sit and listen to music—yes, just listen to music—not as background or with video—just listen. My choices vary according to my particular mood. Once in a while it’s healing to allow myself to listen to something sad. It’s okay to be sad—just don’t live there. But mostly at other times, I want to listen to something uplifting or mood-shifting like jazz or big band or folk or pop among others. I have Pandora on my IPad and so the variety available to me is amazing!

          And at other times I like to go out into the yard and sit in the Adirondacks and meditate or just be, or speak to God as I would speak to a close personal friend—that, by the way, is my favorite form of praying—no struggle to pray “correctly” or to sound holy, as it were, as if I would be otherwise offending God.

          All of us have our own personal sensibilities that would help us to keep calm, renew our spirits, and help us to get more grounded. Those that I have mentioned may already be a part of your life, yet maybe you don’t think they are fitting in these troubling times—that you must always be thinking about life seriously. I think that they are not only fitting, but something quite necessary that we should give ourselves permission to do and to do so very intentionally.