My Social Media-less Life

It’s amazing what happens when I don’t blog for almost a whole week. It’s like a whole week of life happens.

Last weekend, my friend Rachel sold her books at SantaCaliGon Days in Independence, Missouri, and I volunteered to be the main helper. It was one of the worst weekends to sell books weather-wise, but it was fun in the end, and we made some decent sales.

Full disclosure, wouldn’t have gone to SantaCaliGon on my own, and had never been until this year. It’s basically a state fair with just food, vendors, and music. Definitely not something I would have written home about, had I needed to write home about anything.

I was “given” an allowance to spend, spent only that much and was able to just enjoy the rest of the weekend. I got a couple of new dresses, some face paint, a henna tattoo (with inspiration for a possible permanent one?), and then some fun food items that didn’t technically fall under the food I’m comped for while working the booth.

On Sunday— day three at that point— Rachel and I ended up experiencing heat exhaustion and our work relief showed up later that day than they had the previous day. It took both of us most of the morning to figure out what our issue was. Even with all the extra electrolytes, fruit, and just plain water, we had issues with the heat! We survived thankfully, and after a few hours’ break in the air conditioning, we were able to last the rest of the day a little more clear-headed and semi-rested.

My biggest takeaway from the entire weekend— from Thursday evening at the aquarium with my roommate to Tuesday afternoon when my mom and I finally went back to work— is that time is the most precious resource we have and how much we’re willing to give to others is the most precious gift.

Sometimes we don’t use that time wisely. We use that time thinking about other times, whether past, present, or future. We put ourselves in a different place mentally and are unable to give people the blessing of our presence.

We think about the “what if’s”, the “should have’s” and the “what’s up’s” that have nothing to do with us.

One of my favorite things about being at my mom’s house and spending time with her dogs is that I will literally forget time exists. Since I became an adult and moved out of my parents’ house (because those were two different events for me), I will go visit my mom simply to forget about time.

It wasn’t until tonight that I realized that’s why I have a hard time committing to going over to her house for a period of time. It’s certainly not because I don’t want to spend time with her and her pack, but because I do. But I don’t always have the ability to just forget about time and hang out there. Even when we do work-related things like clean the house or clean out the garage, time seems to move so quickly.

I love the feeling, because it reminds me that people are the most important thing one can have in life. Even if those people are the ones you’ve known your whole life. But it’s also something I have to be cognizant of, because I do have other people that the Lord has placed in my life that also need me. Need my time. Whether those people are my clients, my friends, or my nephews and niece.

More full disclosure, the “time warp anointing” exists more at my mom’s house than anyone else’s that I might currently frequent, so I don’t always have the same issue at other houses where the time seems to disappear within 20 minutes.

I guess this weekend was just a reminder to me to take it a little more slowly and to pay a little more attention to the people around me. It’s a reminder to really listen to them when they talk… or understand when they don’t. It was a reminder to not be so distant in my mind.

The time I spend alone is when my mind should be wandering, not when I’m with someone else.