do less (sols)

July is the month of not-much-happening around the Ayres' house. If said aloud, Andy would roll his eyes. Hannah would say, "Se-ri-ous-ly, Mom?" And Stephanie would put her hands on her hips and say, "Yeah, right."

The boys would be outside running races around the house, being daredevils on their bikes on the steep north hill, and defending our territory against the latest evil villain.

And me? Well, there are two bushels of canning tomatoes waiting for me to pick up this morning. I'm getting ahead on laundry in order to pack the kids and me for a road trip with my parents this weekend, there are cookies to make for our friends, swimming plans for this afternoon, bible school tonight, and invitations to create for the So-Long Summer party we promised the kids we'd host.

Which brings me to the slice for today:

We live in a world that is screaming for us to be there and sign up for that. It tugs on us to keep up with the latest news, read books, exercise, clean the house, and trim the bushes. It's a world that says, "You can do it all!"

But what if I want to do less?

When I linger with my cup of coffee and watch the sunrise, I'm grounded. When I'm still for a few more minutes, I'm fortified. When I enjoy the moment -- not thinking about what else I need to do -- but I'm there, totally, in the moment, I'm secure.

So today I will do less in order to make room for more. It might just be about my state of mind, rather than the things I do. Instead of thinking about the next thing, wondering how I'll get it all done, I'll focus on more giggles and more stories and more tastes of cookie dough from not-so-stealthy little hands.

Because this day is too precious to fill it up with stuff. Instead, doing less will preserve it more.

Click on the image to join us at
Two Writing Teachers for the
Slice of Life writing challenge.