Packing Lightly

Sep 19

Packing only what you need keeps you from carrying too much weight in all areas of your life.

As we officially say goodbye to summer with the coming of the Fall Equinox on Thursday, it feels like a good time to evaluate the systems and processes that may or may not be working for us in our lives.

Last week, I had the lovely opportunity to head to the cabin of a dear friend I grew up with, at a beautiful little lake near Lake Tahoe. As our group of lifelong friends came together, we had one important thing to keep in mind while preparing for the trip. We were traveling from the airport to the lake in car that would allow for only a carry-on size bag for each of the five of us.

Now usually when I travel somewhere for a week, I bring my big old suitcase packed full of all the things I might need. The interesting thing was that by finding myself packing lightly I discovered that I methodically thought about every single thing I put into my much smaller suitcase.

Turns out that by doing this I packed exactly what I needed for the various weather and activities that unfolded during our time at the lake. It really felt good to be so organized, even while on a vacation.

I share this with you today because it brings to light the excess baggage, we can tend to carry with us in many areas of our lives when we don’t put the time, effort, and energy into planning what it is we really need.

Every morning we start a new day and today we start a new week. On Thursday we start a new season. Have you thought it through as to how it will best serve you and the people whose lives you touch? Can you pack lightly with just what you need in order to not be burdened with things that don’t serve you?

Next week I will share more about planning for Q4 as we head towards the last quarter of the year. In the meantime, have a most awesome last few days of summer!

P.S. Today’s top pic was taken on the private dock where I was staying, and I had the most glorious morning meditation practices in this beautiful spot! The second pic is from our first night together and the smiles that kept on coming. 🤓