Food for the soul

When creating my 30 before 30 list I sat down with intention on why I wanted to tick off each and every activity. Some of the items on the list were there to grow my skill set, others to combat fear, some to experience new adventures, a few to create pinch me moments (like seeing Celine Dion belt it out), and a handful were added to create some breathing room – enter camping. It seemed quite rare that as an almost thirty year old I had never slept in the great outdoors before and I knew this adventure would create space for rest, so on to the list it went.

I was going to name this post ‘happy camper’ because this weekend I got to put a check mark next to that very item on my 30 before 30 list. Shortly after arriving it was obvious that this was a portion of soul food that I’ve, we’ve, been missing in our lives. It was the perfect way to shut off, reflect and gave us head space to prepare for what’s to come. After heading home and reminiscing on what a wonderfully simple weekend we had it was then that I decided to name this post ‘food for the soul’, because although camping was wonderful there are other things that we need to feed our soul with to stay sweet + sane.

Here’s our thoughts on how to feed your soul if you can’t make it to the campgrounds, but if you can, go camping!

Shutting off from technology, the 24 hours news, and everything else vying for our attention at every waking hour, is one of the best ways to refresh. A mental detox so often gets neglected yet is the very thing that each of us crave. The world will still spin if we disconnect so take time to shut off every so often to remind yourself of what’s really important.

Putting pen to paper and revisiting even the littlest of things that happen within our lives is so important. Life can fly by so quickly that this is a great way to slow down and remember what makes you happy. It’s a great way to record the highs and the lows so that in years gone by we can take a look back and see how far we’ve come.

This is one that I always tend to neglect. I wouldn’t consider myself the outdoorsy type in the slightest. One lesson I learned this weekend is that stepping out into the wide open spaces and breathing in fresh air is medicine for the soul. Creation is a miracle in itself and nature has a lot to teach us. Hearing the owls in the evening, the songs of the birds in the morning, reminds us that life is taking place all around us. That we live in a big beautiful world packed full of simple pleasures yet, so easy to miss if we forget to stop and listen.

Life is short, we’re reminded of this all the time. It’s so important to find what makes you happy and live your passion. We can get so busy doing the next thing that we don’t take the time to question why we’re doing what we’re doing. We don’t interrogate why we’re spinning our wheels on x,y and z, we just spin faster. Part of living a fulfilled life is sitting down and reflecting on what makes you happy at your core. What gifts + talents do you have that you could use to make a difference? When you leave this earth what is it that you want to be remembered by? Whatever it is, feed your soul with that.

I would venture to guess that this is the most neglected out of every one of these tidbits of advice. Not enough importance gets put of refueling with rest. It’s no wonder we live in a caffeine dependent society. We’re taught that success comes from ‘hustle’ and the more we hustle the higher we’ll achieve. More importance needs to be placed on the idea of resting to gain. We have to allow down time before we burn out, and just because we can fill our diaries to the brim doesn’t mean we should.

If you can’t seem to squeeze in time to getaway in the coming months at least make time for a few of these ways to feed your weary soul. Then, plan a camping trip for the months to come, you’ll thank me.