Hanging Out

Hanging Out

     Half of my family was traveling last week, my husband in Italy working and my daughter enjoying her ten year trip with her grandparents.  It was an odd week, with less laundry to do and dinner to make.  My other daughter and I engaged in cultural activities, social gatherings and travel, yet there remained a certain amount of space in our lives to “hang out” with self.

My daughters used to have playdates, but now that they are older they have “hang outs”.  A “hang out” is being with someone for an extended period of time, possible doing and activity or not.  Last week I “hung out” with my oldest child, who is off to middle school, and soon won’t want to “hang out” with her mother.  We “hung out” with my Mom, who is almost eighty. I cherish every “hang out” I have with her these days.

Life can be busy at times with responsibilities, either real or imagined.  I used to have a high-stressed career in corporate America.  I chose to leave this life to “stay home” with my kids and to pursue my own dreams.

Relinquishing this part of me has opened up dormant areas of my life.  I have the “time” now to “hang out” with my kids.  As a “ultra sensitive” person I am intimately aware of their thoughts, feelings and emotions as they happen.  Being there for them during these critical growth years and guiding them through the challenges of life is my current “job”.  

Hanging out with myself used to scare me.  I feared being alone in a quiet room.  Over the last decade my career has been to “hang out” with myself.  To be there for me.  In the past, I dissociated myself from my feelings and emotions, burying them deep within my psyche.  I worked and played hard to the point of exhaustion.  My spirit, along with my physical body, had me stop and “hang out,” with myself, with my family, with my life.  

During these crazy days, make “hanging out” a priority.  Whether it is with family, friends or self, “hanging out” will offer you in the moment experiences, balance and ultimately love in your life.