*The extended title of this blog entry is actually “I ran away to the wilderness for a few hours and came back a saner and a more adjusted version of my adult self once more”. But that isn’t as catchy (and I’m not sure the title I did settle on is any better. As I’m not here to be perfect, I’ll settle with it).

So, today after what feels like an overwhelmingly long period of overwhelm, I wagged my pilates class (sorry, Steph!) and ran my way through a local council and national park track and I felt the stress and constant vigilance fall away. There was some road running, some footpaths, some single trail, some hills and some fire trail – oh, and just me. Despite living here my whole life, I am still amazed at the underrated tracks we have in the Lower Blue Mountains – I didn’t see a single soul out on the trails, and I wasn’t that far from houses. And yet, I practiced my ability to noticed. I worked on noticing the ebb and flow of our landscape into grasslands / gorges / eucalyptus tree forests / the rocky trail giving way to smooth dirt and then again into sandstone trail. I witnessed a flock of black cockatoos frolicking in the gorge, a bunch of other sparrow-esque birds flitting by (look at me, clearly not a twitcher!) and just the general big blue of our sky.

Of course there was heaps of other stuff, but it was this stuff that caught my eye. This is the stuff that gave me intention and joy and made the reality of a busy life just melt away. If only, for a few hours.

I’m left wondering how I lost the drive to get out and do this week in, week out. How did I lose the priority of me? How do I go about getting the discipline back? Of course, I run the risk of completely overthinking the answers to the above – and, I don’t want to do that. Instead, I am jumping on here to document my intense feelings of peace and gratitude (even if I did have to sort out an issue with the delivery of a new bed mid-run. I’m choosing to not count that hustle as part of the day).

From my world to yours, find a little space in your slice of chaos to do a little something that brings you peace and joy. That, and if you have a dog, keep the traditional hot cross buns completely out of reach, possibly locked up in a safe x