16 Aug Making Space for What Feeds Your Soul

The day we left for vacation began early. As the sun was beginning to rise, yawning children piled into our car with their favorite blankets and stuffed animals in tow. Coffee in hand, I began to run through my check list of all the items on our packing list one more time before pushing back from our driveway.

Nearly ten hours later, we rolled down our windows to inhale the fresh mountain air of Cashiers, North Carolina. We pulled into the cabin that my grandparents built in the 1950s, the floor boards creaking as four children ran inside, hurriedly finding the rocks they mined from the year before in the bunk bed cubbies.

The pleas for outdoor activity began immediately after a full day of being cooped up in the car. We readily obliged. We hopped back into the car and within ten minutes found ourselves at Silver Run Falls, a favorite little trail of ours that leads to a waterfall and natural swimming pool.

The kids ran ahead with my husband to jump in the water and I walked slowly along the trail, listening to the sound of the waterfall in the distance and birds chirping softly all around me. I took a deep breath and let the mountain air fill my lungs. As I drew closer to the waterfall, I felt the mist of it in the air which caused my weary mind and body to feel re-energized and alive again.

What is it about the mountains that makes me feel so restful and alive? And why can’t I feel this way more often? 

The noise of D.C. traffic, the calendar on my kitchen wall with appointments and activities scratched down on every day, the phone buzzing with its call to engage in everything but my own soul – all of this can be silenced here – put on hold for a week.

Here in the midst of ferns and Black-Eyed Susans I can forget the hard scratches of my early morning writing on the calendar, the to do list that never seems to reach completion, the starred emails that still need follow-up or response.

Time passed in a breath. Vacation is over now. But I am still reflecting on the glories of it all. And I am reminding myself not to forget this truth: In green space, my soul comes alive. 

While staying at our cabin in Cashiers, I was able to spend hours in nature every day. Long hikes among vast arrays of natural beauty, quiet moments laying on warm boulders next to powerfully rushing waterfalls, and creek walking in streams with my kids. All of this feeds and nourishes me deep within like a hot meal on a cold, rainy night.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I don’t know I’m tired until I force myself to lay down. Sometimes I don’t know I need a hug until a friend wraps her arms around me in a tight embrace and tears seem to flow in response. Sometimes I don’t realize how anxious my mind is until my attention is captured by a greater force that causes me to pause, stand in awe, and just enjoy the moment.

Wonder looks like something. Like butterflies landing on my daughter’s hand. Like reaching a summit point of a mountain and standing still, arrested by sheer beauty. Like watching lighting rip through the summer sky creating God’s own natural firework show.

Sometimes I think we keep running, keep moving, keep responding to the buzzes and beeps and calls because it all just seems so necessary and important.

But isn’t soul care important?

On my wall calendar and computer to-do list, do I prioritize those things that make my soul thrive? Does my schedule reflect a focus on soul care? Both for myself and my family?

I don’t need to wait until our yearly trip to North Carolina to spend a few hours in silence by a river. Or sit, with journal in hand, in some beautiful quiet space scratching down poems of praise and gratitude to my God. It’s all about making room, making space in my daily life for soul-enriching experiences.

How about you? What places, people, or activities cause your soul to bloom and thrive? How can you carve out space in your schedule this fall for more of what feeds your soul and nourishes your spirit?