“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes…including you.” – Anne Lamott

After several highly stressful weeks (months, really) at work, I was recently able to take a day off with no objective other than to decompress. No obligations, no special occasion, no appointments…just an ordinary day. And it was just what I needed.

After waking up without an alarm, I set out to do the things I enjoyed most. Which, of course, meant my first stop was the Botanical Garden for the Orchid Show.

That loveliness was followed by lunch at one of my favorite restaurants (cupcake included), a trip to a baking store to load up on more cookie cutters (just what I needed, ha!) and a run in Forest Park. Then I curled up on the couch at home and caught up on some shows. SO many of my favorite things going on there.

In a culture where busyness has become a strange status symbol, it felt like such a luxury to call a timeout and say “no más” for a day. But as I’ve thought about it, is that the way it should be or do we need a culture shift? When did the need for self-care become contrary to a productive work life? The older I get, the more I realize that unplugging and resetting should be a necessity, not a luxury. And I hope to make this a regular habit.