This past Sunday, I skipped church.
I do that from time to time. Either I wake up feeling icky and don’t want to infect others or had a very late night because of work and just don’t want to get going in the morning. Sometimes I am out of town or have something important that just can’t be skipped. And sometimes…. I just don’t want to people.
This past Sunday it was far too hot. Or would be by the time church let out. And since I also wanted to recharge my soul and my social battery with a hike in nature, I decided to do that instead of church. I found a sermon in nature, listening to the songbirds and feeling the dew soak my shoes.
Growing up, I have always cherished my “alone” time. As a creative, I needed that quiet time to let my mind explore. As an introvert who can mask well as an extrovert, I need it to recharge my social battery. As a person who just likes to “be”, I need it to calm the anxieties and stresses of everyday life.
So instead of attending church, I strapped on my very well worn hiking shoes, applied a hefty layer of sunscreen, sprayed myself down with bug spray and donned my geocache bag for a short and steamy hike through one of the local county conservation lands in search of some quiet, some nature and of course, a solitary geocache. By the time I was finished, I had downed most of the water I had brought. I was sweating buckets. And despite the spray, I had a bug bite or two. But I also recharged my cup and found a geocache I couldn’t find once upon a time.
There are people I come across who don’t understand this need I have for solitary adventures. Some are afraid for my safety (which I understand). But others think I should have the mentality of “the more the merrier” when it comes to a hike or a geocaching trip. Others have expressed that I just need to “grow out of” my shyness and social anxiety and learn to deal with people constantly demanding my time. And sometimes… well….
I work a full time job where I am constantly around people. Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love my job and I love talking to those that I come across. But when that job is done and I can take off the mask of the bubbly extroverted employee, I need the quiet and calm and even the antisocial-ness just to be able to do it all over again. I have to say no to some social events because my cup won’t be able to be refilled. I can’t burn the candle at both ends without a recharge. I can’t step out of my comfort zone if I don’t feel comfortable IN my zone as well. The older I get, the more I realize this. It may seem selfish to some, but it is how I have learned to operate these days.
And so, this past Sunday, I skipped church.
But we all need those moments to recharge. We all need a quiet down time or a solo adventure or the ability to let a text or email go unread for a bit just to take that breath. We all need to find what fills our cup and makes up more human. And we don’t need to “outgrow” whatever that is that does it, be it a solo hike through county conservation lands, reading a story deemed “young adult” or “smut”, playing video games, or whatever else helps us unwind and become those magical humans again.
Find what fills your cup.
Stay magical, friends.
Write your own story.
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K. S. Wood Writes 