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The Value of Doing Nothing

September 28, 2020

August 24, 2020

Dear Friends,

Pooh Bear is so wise.  

The quote above sums up our past week of vacation in San Diego.  I intentionally stayed off of technology for 23 hours of the day, barely read the news, pushed back replies to emails, didn't choreograph or even exercise for that matter, and made it a priority to spend quality time with my family, and myself.  

Normally when we travel to places, such as our last trip in February to Whistler, we have an agenda and we try to maximize exploring each day.  This time, we had no set schedule or plan to follow.  

We slept in, we went to the beaches, we built sandcastles, we explored tide pools (where I found a heart-shaped one in the photo above!), we swam, we Yelped to find places to eat, we'd eat some more, and we stayed up late watching movies.   It was a true vacation, and as with all good things, I am sad it came to an end.  Really sad.

I'd like to share a simple phrase my girls and I have been using the past few months when we feel disappointed or upset.  It really helps to change our perspective on things...

The downside is ____________, but the upside is ___________.

The downside is the pandas were no longer at the San Diego Zoo when we visited last week (perfect outdoor social distancing activity with masks), but the upside is a baby panda was just born on Friday at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in DC and you can watch their Panda Cam 24/7!  (If you didn't know, pandas are my absolute favorite animal and I've been spying on their pandacam all day - the baby's tough to see but you can definitely hear the squeals.  Yes, I am slightly obsessed).

The downside is, I know we all have heavy hearts with the evacuations and fires surrounding us. The upside is, even though we were exhausted from driving home yesterday, my husband and I finally began putting together an emergency bag - something that we've talked about doing for years but never did. It's not finished, but at least we started. Please make this a priority in your household too - let's be prepared because these days nothing is predictable and now is the time.

The downside is, yesterday we had planned a full day birthday outing to hike in Pacifica to celebrate my dad's birthday, but due to the fires we had to cancel our plans.  The upside is, we still had an hour together to grab a quick bite for lunch and celebrate with cake, and we will definitely reschedule for September!

The downside is that my vacation in San Diego is over, but the upside is that I had a really wonderful time and I get to dance with all of you tomorrow!  Who's excited?

Love,

Grace