Go Outside. Seriously.

Go outside. Seriously. ☀️  A simple reminder to step into the season, breathe it in, and not miss the moments that matter most. 

Transcript

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Hey friends, welcome back to Mom Life in the Woods. This episode is sponsored in part by Coach Dion Basketball. Coach Dion Basketball is the Woodlands most dedicated coach. If you haven't checked him out yet, please visit coachdeion.com to learn more. Before I go any further, I'm just gonna say it. Go outside. Not later on, not when things slow down, not when the house is clean. Go outside right now. While the season is here, I know how it is to wait until the air feels just a little bit better or until my makeup is on because you know I don't want the neighbors to see me like this. But now is the time to go outside, guys. Life does not wait for us to be ready, it just keeps moving. And right now, we are in one of the most beautiful windows of the year. It's springtime. In Texas, it's time to get outdoors because if not now, when? Probably not July. Well, you know, I'm an advocate of going outside year-round, but let me tell you, here in the woodlands, it's the sweet spot. And I'm sure wherever you're listening from, it's an ideal time to go outside. The air is still fresh, it's not heavy, the sun is still warm, but it's not scorching. Everything is blooming and blossoming, and of course, the pollen is the number one indicator that springtime is here, everything is alive. And you can almost miss it if you're not paying attention. I was in North Shore Park earlier this week. We didn't have anything big planned. It was just a simple meetup with a couple of new friends. It was me, my uh my 12-year-old, and a couple of moms and their kiddos. Just a simple afternoon. Except I stopped at HEB and picked up a few pints of ice cream and some plastic spoons. This was special because we bring grapes and granola bars and snacks to the park all the time, but we never bring ice cream. And the afternoon was starting off warm. When we got there, I remember feeling kind of hot, but then the breeze picked up. It was a lovely breeze, too. It was strong, but not too strong, just enough to make everybody comment on it. Oh, this breeze feels so nice. I'm pretty sure I said it a couple of times. The kids were enjoying their ice cream with a smile, and somehow we had a kite with us. My daughter and those friends took off running across the grass, laughing, trying to get it up. It took them a little while, but suddenly it caught in the wind, and that kite lifted higher and higher, dancing in the sky. And I remember standing there with those other moms, and we were just marveling, and we were so excited that they had gotten this kite in the air on such a simple, ordinary type of day. The girls were running and laughing and yelling, and I was actually just hoping that they wouldn't get the kite stuck in the tree, which they eventually did, but they were able to get it out. But we were there just watching it all, and I thought this is the kind of moment I'm always saying I want more of. Not the big expensive planned to perfection moments, just simple and meaningful and real. And I gotta tell you something. So many of these moments are waiting for us outside, but we have to step into them because it's so easy to stay inside, isn't it? I know it is for me. There's always something to do. There's laundry, there are dishes, emails, there is, you know, regular mail envelopes to sort through, screen time, whatever your leisure is. Before you know it, the day has passed on, and you have never even opened the door. And I'm not counting if you go to work, yep, you go out, you get in your vehicle, you go straight to the office, but I mean, you've never really lingered. When you step outside, everything shifts. Even just a little bit. You feel the sun on your skin, your shoulders drop a little. And I really want you to pay attention the next time you intentionally spend time outside. Typically, what happens is your body immediately starts to relax, your mind quiets down, and suddenly you just feel a little more present again. And I mentioned this before, I think maybe in the first or second episode of Mom Life in the Woods, but there are actual benefits to being outside. Fresh air helps clear your mind. If you've been uh mulling over an idea or trying to figure something out or stressed or worried about something, step out into the fresh air for a little while. That can give you a reset. Of course, you know, sunlight gives us vitamin D, um, something that, well, it I guess it triggers the production of vitamin D, but that's something that most of us don't get enough of. And I will say that the experts don't necessarily think that you should get the majority of your vitamin D from the sunlight because of cancer and all of that. So when you are basking in the sun, please, or not basking, but when you're gonna spend any time in the sun, go ahead and put on a sunscreen. But vitamin D is crucial for maintaining strong bones because it helps your body absorb calcium. So especially as moms and or women in general, as we age, that becomes even more important. And just um, just so you know, that vitamin also supports immune function, it aids muscle movement and it facilitates the nerve communication between your brain and your body. Now, this is all information that I learned just by researching it just before, well, as I was writing the script to this podcast, I'm trying to figure out okay, I know there are benefits, but what are they? But I also learned that if you're getting enough vitamin D, it might even reduce your risk of chronic disease like diabetes or cancer. So, yeah, vitamin D is not something to take lightly. Being outside, unless you have neighbors that you just can't stand the sight of, I mean, nobody has that right. I mean, I know I don't. I love my neighbors. They are just, I just feel so blessed. But unless you're just don't really care for the people that you see when you go outside, being outside is gonna boost your mood. It's gonna reduce your stress. It also helps you sleep better. And the main thing for me is that being outside pulls me away from the constant noise. I'm a family of six, and we are all home. We homeschool, my husband works from home, I work from home, and it pulls me away from the noise of the house and the visual noise too. You know, the things that we see, the clutter, the notifications, the to-do list. And beyond all of that, there's something even deeper. There's something grounding about being outside. It reminds us that the world is bigger than our to-do list. And I feel like a lot of times when we're inside, we're in our um just our own little corner of the world, and we kind of forget that life is happening out there, and there's beauty, there's just things happening that are beyond us, whether we stop to notice it or not. And also it's a quiet reminder of God's presence, you know, his creativity, attention to detail, everything that he designed for the seasons, the light, the growth. And here's what I love most about where we live. You don't have to go far to find it. The beauty is right outside. We live in a great area for trees and birds of all colors and flowers, and in the woodlands alone, there are hundreds of miles of hike and bike trails. I want to say over 200 miles. You can walk, you can bike, you can scooter. Just explore. You can rent those swan boats or the kayaks. Let me tell you about the swan boats. They're definitely fun. I definitely recommend you do it once, but oh my, those swan boats will have you tired. They, you are peddling for days, and you are going maybe two feet. So be ready to work for the swan boats. But it's fun. Go ahead and rent the swan boat, visit places like the botanical gardens not too far. Right now, I don't know when you're gonna be listening to this, but right now it's strawberry picking season. There are places very close by where you can pick fresh strawberries. Pretty soon it's gonna be the blackberries and the blueberries, and there are places to pick fresh flowers. And look, I know those places are kind of overpriced, and you can just go to HEB and get your own strawberries. But there is something so special about being outside and picking your own fruit, being a part of the process. There are free outdoor activities happening all the time. If you follow woodlandsmommy.com, make sure you go to the events calendar. It's events.woodlandsmommy.com, and you will see all the events, yoga outside, Tai Chi, all the things outside, community events, places like City Plays, they're constantly offering ways to gather outside in the fresh air. The pavilion, their concerts, their performing art shows, those are coming up for the season. And even something as simple as are you ready for this? Eating outside. Okay, let me ask you, do you think of eating outside as something special? Like something you do only occasionally? I do. I mean, I just don't eat outside often enough. We have a bell that we ring whenever a meal is ready. We do a lot of cooking at home, and this bell signals everyone to go wash their hands and come to the kitchen. We've been using the same system of getting everyone to the kitchen for, I'm gonna say at least 12 years, maybe 13 years. It just works a lot better than trying to loudly call upstairs for the kids to come down. But everyone knows they hear the bell, it's time to stop what you're doing, go wash your hands, head to the kitchen. But I'm wondering, like right now at this very moment, what if for this season at a minimum, when they hear the bell, they know that it means to head outside. Like, what might happen if I start setting the table on the back porch? We have a, you know, pick a regular dining table on the back porch. What if I start setting that for our weekday dinners or maybe our Saturday morning breakfasts or brunches and get my family in the mindset or the habit of heading outside for the meals this season? I don't know. I might just try that. And you too. You can spend time outside eating every single day at home in your backyard, or when you go out to eat. So many restaurants right now are in full patio season. If it's a warmer day and you're like, ah, it's too warm. Usually they have fans, so they're not sometimes they even have other kinds of air conditioning, but it's just it changes the whole experience. I think the food tastes better when you're eating outside. I know that the conversations they seem to feel a little bit easier. Everything slows down just a bit. This time that we're in right now is also the season of festivals, farmers markets, outdoor music concerts, community events. There is so much happening outside right now. But what I want to leave you with today is this. You can either let the season pass you by, or you can step into it. Because listen, the season will pass by. The heat is going to come. Your schedule will fill up, life will shift again. And when that happens, you'll either look back and think, I wish we had gotten outside more, or you'll think, I'm so glad we did. So this week, here's what I want you to do. Nothing big, overwhelming, one small step. Open the windows, let the breeze come in, or step outside for a walk, even if it's just down the block and back, go check your mail. If you guys have that like community mailbox thing where you have to go and yeah, go outside and check your mail, take your coffee out to the porch, let your kids run barefoot in the grass, say yes to the trail, say yes to the simple things, because the simple things are the ones that stay with you. That kite in the sky, I'm still thinking about it. That feeling of being fully present in a a moment that didn't really cost us anything. That's what life is made of. Alright, friend. That's all for today. Step outside, take a breath, don't let the season slip by unnoticed. I'll see you next time on Long Life in the Woods.