Whispering Wyrd

This last Saturday we went out for the day. We didn’t travel far at all, just the seven miles from our place to the Plaza here in Santa Fe, but it felt like a little vacation.

As we were walking around, my wife said something that I thought was really important. She said, “This would make a good blog post, about how changing location changes perspective.” She’s right. Sometimes just the smallest change in location can cause a shift in our moods for the better.

We spent the afternoon wandering around the Plaza, enjoying the sights and sounds. Santa Fe is known as an art and food mecca for good reason. Live music was in the air, people were laughing, artists were displaying their work, and everywhere you turned there was the smell of incredibly delicious food.

We left a store we were in and cut through a narrow alley to get to another street. While we were walking through, we saw a small restaurant we had never even noticed before. That’s one of the fun things about exploring your own town, sometimes you discover places that have been there all along.

We decided to stop and have lunch there. It turned out to be Los Magueyes Mexican Restaurant, and the food was amazing! If you ever find yourself in Santa Fe, I definitely recommend it.

But the best part of the day wasn’t just the food or the wandering around. It was the feeling. The fresh, cool air. The warm high altitude sunlight. The beautiful Pueblo Revival adobe buildings that give Santa Fe its unique character. And most of all, just spending time together.

Something about breaking routine, even for a few hours, refreshes the mind and spirit. It pulls you out of the constant noise of daily life. The headlines. The bills. The aches and pains. The worries that seem to fill our heads when we stay stuck in the same routine day after day.

When we got home we all talked about it. It had lifted our moods. It had changed our outlook. All from a seven mile trip.

For anyone that kind of reset can be important. But for people in recovery, I think it can be especially important. Sometimes the healthiest thing we can do is just step outside our routine, go somewhere different, and remind ourselves that life still holds these simple but powerful joys.

You don’t always need a plane ticket or a long vacation. Sometimes a new perspective is just a few miles away.

Amituofo
~Buck