#RSRSeesTheUSA Day 14: NM-AZ-UT
Back on the road to a day of all kinds of changed plans.
Until yesterday, my plan was to head south from here, and when that fell through, I wasn’t sure where to turn.
But I did decide to start today with a soak in the various pools at Ojo Caliente, and boy was that ever a good decision. Hot pools… they’re magic. Mineral waters of different temperatures under a bank of gray clouds and cool air overhead? Yes please.
It was lying in that red hammock there where I made my decision about where to head next. And that’s where I booked a campsite right near Monument Valley, which is where I’m writing this from.
Taking a moment to be publicly proud of myself for getting out of my anxiety spiral about unknown plans. Listening to my physical needs (last night, that was sleep; today, that was leisurely soaking in hot tubs) was indeed what I needed. I’m glad to have come to a place in my life where I can get out of my head and not let that anxiety spiraling completely dominate my choices.
Ironically, I’m listening to the audiobook of Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, and one topic that came up in today’s section was JOMO (the Joy Of Missing Out). Several studies were mentioned that pointed to how much happier people are when they’ve made a decision and it can’t be reversed, that when we close down possibilities in favor of the one we’ve picked to use our time on, we feel more content. That was exactly how I felt from last night to today: anxious about too many choices to making one and feeling entirely content with it.
So here I am, on the border of Utah and Arizona (which is a trip, because Arizona doesn’t do Daylight Saving Time and Utah does, so I don’t actually know what time it is where I am right now). I’m car camping in the back of darling Stella (she’s been such a good vehicular companion on this trip), with the tailgate facing east and looking forward to tomorrow’s sunrise. Feeling good and snug and cozy and happy to go to bed early.
Cloud of the day: the clouds were incredible throughout the entire 5.5 hour drive from New Mexico to the Arizona/Utah border. I just kept on snapping windshield pics! So here’s a collage (clicking any of them will let you see the whole thing).
