I've seen this book circulate fairly often, and I love my pocket Pema Chodron book on mindfulness and intention, so I figured I'd give this series a try too. I have the rest of the books on order and I'm very excited to read the rest and see how they resonate with me.

I ironically just got back to work from a week-long vacation where I ultimately ended up realizing that I truly don't know how to relax!

Before working at a library, I spent almost a decade working in food service: everything from barista jobs to hosting, to catering and eventually managing a bakery department at a vegan diner. Sometimes I was working one job, sometimes I was working 3 jobs. Sometimes, I worked 35 hours a week and barely made rent, sometimes I worked 75 hours and barely slept. I was so used to this fast-paced, grueling lifestyle that when I was hired at a library, I didn't really know how to slow down to a new pace. It's still a process to adjust.

Before I started my staycation, I made a list of tasks I wanted to accomplish, ranging from small chores around the house to massive DIY projects, even trying to teach myself languages. I realized that I was trying to do the impossible, and not only would I not have enough time to even scratch the surface of my list, I wouldn't have any time to truly relax either. So, I pared my list down to what I thought was still "doable" and started my vacation. I got plenty of rest in, did plenty of projects I'd been procrastinating on, but I ended up feeling much more anxious as the days went on that I wasn't doing "enough" with my time and always needed to be busy or I was "wasting time" and "wasting my vacation" on "nothing."

This book was really refreshing, and while I wish I read it before my time off, I still valued reading it after and realizing that yes, I didn't know how to relax then, but I have more tools in my toolkit to relax in the future.