The Thing About Quiet Time

it is not overrated

Well, this week’s post got away from me. We have a house guest, which always throws me off big time, and then the three-day weekend also caused me to think that I had an extra day to get something written. All that combined with trying to keep up with my book deadline means this week’s content is a little light. But I’m sure you will be nice about it. So, LET’S GO

Tomorrow I’m going out of town, this time to SoCal to do some house-sitting for my aunt and uncle who live in a lovely neighborhood near LAX. Their house is beautiful and they have a peaceful backyard garden, so as you can imagine it will be a real hardship to be there.

I really love the idea of doing things like this—house-sitting in LA or Hawaii, or staying at my cousin’s beach house—where I have a whole bunch of time to myself. Like I don’t get that here, where I work from home. But somehow it’s different when the scenery has changed.

I do try to do some visiting when I’m in LA. I still have a few friends from waaay back in the day, like high school and even junior high. I try to sprinkle a few visits like that into my solitary time. And since I’ve spent quite a bit more time in California over the last few years, I now have other friends too—a few newer ones, and family members I’ve reconnected with. Like, I’m going to hang out with my cousin who’s a wardrobe stylist for those moving picture things, and she’s going to take me shopping at a few thrift stores! Because “fashion” is so not my bag. Give me a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and some Stan Smiths and I’m good. But maybe she can help me do it with a little more flair…?

Anyway, I do have some plans, which I’m looking forward to. But I have to make sure I balance all that with plenty of quiet time.

Do you ever experience angst over a full calendar? Or do you see your week’s appointments or meet-ups on your schedule and smile because you get to be super social and you enjoy being out and about? I wonder if there’s a name for the particular kind of anxiety that comes from freaking out about having stuff on your Google Calendar.

I like seeing my friends (why, just two days ago I had three people over for tea and cards! It was CRAZY), and i like getting out and doing stuff. But for some reason, opening Google Calendar and seeing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on it fills me with a sense of peace and relief. And freedom. Like I can pretend I have total control over my life and how I spend all my time (which, metaphysically speaking you could argue I do whether my calendar has stuff on it or not, or you could also existentially argue we aren’t in charge of anything, so there’s that).

Needless to say, I don’t get out much. Lol.

I know a few people who are rarely home, always out doing something, going somewhere, seeing someone. And they love it that way, and I’m happy for them. But that would freak me the eff out.

Maybe some of it is because navigating my way through social situations is sometimes tiring, and I have to be careful where I choose to spend that currency. Maybe I don’t like being in situations I can’t control very well (hello, air travel and restaurants, I’m looking at YOU). Maybe all of it together is too much and my nervous system hits overload faster than most.

Regardless, I am doing okay with a more solitary life and I like things this way.

But I sure do like going someplace I know well, like SoCal, as a change of pace from home, and having some quiet time there, and doing a bit of socializing with people I love, and then coming home. To more quiet.

This is one of my most favorite places, and I’ll be visiting there soon. At which time I’ll tell you all about where this is and why it’s so special.

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