It felt really needed and welcome to spend a day pretty much totally at restorative rest. I’m about to head back into an urban space for a few days, and I’ve been on two significant hiking days in the past week, and and I’ve been on the road for almost a month and a half at this point.

And, most importantly, I don’t have to justify my desire for rest to myself.

I’m listening to my body and my energy levels and resting. I’m taking to heart the affirmation I wrote for myself this week: This is your trip, no matter what you do or do not see.

Tomorrow, I’m checking out of my gorgeous A-frame Airbnb outside of Yosemite, and I don’t know where I’m going to sleep at the end of the day. And I feel fine about that.

Instead, I’m going to reminisce about how cool driving through Yosemite Valley was, seeing waterfalls and ice-covered rocks and towering cliffs and post-fire trees.

My social energy just is not what it used to be. Even in the Before Times (aka pre-pandemic aka BCE… Before Covid Era), I’d been steadily leaning more and more into my introverted side. But now, after over two years of majorly curtailed social behavior, I felt like I needed (at least) an entire day of rest to recover.

An incomplete list of things that made me very happy today.

&

An incomplete list of things that made me anxious today

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.