Cape Cod in the Rear View Mirror

Spent last week camping with my lovely family up in Cape Cod. So, so, so beautiful. I got to spend time with my amazing nieces, J and M, who just fill me up inside with happy. And quality time with ugly - I mean, my sister - is always welcome. Even got to have some good conversations with my brother. All in all, it was a great trip. The weather wasn't flawless, but it wouldn't be a family camping trip without a little rain and some damp nights. The beach was beautiful, the lake was calm, everything went really super well. Then as I got up for work this morning I was surprised with the next two days off! So now I have plenty of time to get things back in order, and more importantly, stay in touch with myself. When I'm camping, I'm so very relaxed and happy and connected to myself. I love the woods, and the ocean, and the breeze and campfires and family. It's all exactly what paradise is for me. But I'm so quick to loose that when I venture back into the "real world" - partially because the real world has always been referred to as a bad thing. But it's not. I know it's not. My world, my "real" world, is full of Kai Chi Do and Yoga and Family and Nature and books and movies and a countless number of things that make me happy. The things I stress about are not the real world simply because they are negative. Call me crazy, but I refuse to accept that the real world is a negative place. I'm not being naive, I'm being hopeful. I can, and will, fill my real world with things I love, so that when I wake up in the morning and when I go to sleep at night, I'm happy with the life I'm living. I don't want to do things that feel wrong because some part of me thinks I have to. Obviously, I need a job, I need to make money. I have responsibilities that aren't always fun. I'm not looking for an easy way out. I just don't see why those have to be negative aspects of my life. Maybe they don't. Maybe I'm the only one who carries around that weight, that assumption that those tend to be bad things. Cause they certainly don't have to be. Life is such a beautiful abstract concept. It can be anything I want it to be. But really. It can. So why not start now?