rest.and.renewal - fort collins portrait photographer

{the sights and sounds of the Mayan Riviera will send you straight to happy in 60 seconds flat ... don't you agree??  worked for me anyway!}

Um, yeah ... so that break I took to 'unplug' from blogging and FB??  Pretty much the best thing ever.  Much to my surprise, I ended up taking a more extended break than I originally planned just because I loved it so much.  Here's an analogy that I've used to process the experience:  You're at a busy restaurant or bar on a Saturday night.  The place is packed and full of great conversation and live music.  The energy in the room is vibrant, lively and thus, necessarily loud.  It feels good to be amongst this crowd of people who are having great conversation and listening to good music while eating delicious food.

These are all good things, right??  Right!  

Interestingly enough though, halfway through your dining experience, the band stops playing the music in order to take a rest break.  As soon as the music stops, the sudden absence of it makes you realize how much quieter it is in the room ... 

how much easier it is to speak without straining your voice ...

how much easier it is to hear without concentrating so hard ...

how much easier it is to focus on and track the dinner table discussions ...

In essence, you begin to notice how much more peaceful and calming this new way of 'being in the room' can be.  It's also apparent that these noticings wouldn't have taken place without that band taking a rest break.  This is exactly what it felt like when I removed a few of the distractions in my life for awhile and, mind you, I did it even though I felt like they were, for the most part, good distractions ... things that I felt like were informative, entertaining, and creatively challenging at their very best.  

I'm SO glad I did.  I needed it more than I realized.  Yet another reminder of the gifts that can be found in a consistent practice of rest and renewal.  I continue to think about the ways my social media use affects my attention, my focus and, most importantly, my relationships with others.  I know that I want my social media use to honor what really matters in life, but, even with that guiding principle, the question still remains ...

What do I want it to look like?  

{Wish me luck!}