While I am not a member of an ancient tribe without a permanent house, who travels from place to place for fresh pasture for my livestock, I am starting to identify as a metaphoric nomad, like Emily Dickenson’s quote “I am out with the lanterns looking for myself”. I am 14 months into a career change that has given me a lot of wings and freedom to travel, as I carefully designed.
I left Kansas City twenty times in 2023 to go and do something or visit someone. Honestly, I left so often that I actually missed home. This is a first for me. And as I have written before…missing a place means something to me. This must mean that I am still not a professional nomad and/or that was too much travel for a human.
In the last year, I intentionally experimented with several daily practices that helped me to bring calm and peace with me wherever I went, in addition to my duffel bag. I am not sharing these things to shame or guilt you into trying these same things – but rather to encourage you to reflect on what is missing from your life. How we spend our days is how we spend our lives and small changes and experiments have the biggest impact on general wellbeing. And if I have discovered anything as a School Counselor and Therapist, we tend to bring ourselves wherever we go. #dammit
Stacy's Nomad Essentials....
Daily gospel. I read it, I make a few notes on what resonated and commit to a resolution for the day. While very simple resolutions, they changed the quality and intention of my days. The words and resolutions have sparked introspection, creativity, love and presence in a new way.
No socials on the phone. Yes, I am that friend of yours that has removed apps from my phone as fast as I have put them back on. In short, the quality of my life and how I spent my time is radically different and better when I make the “crack cocaine of social media” a little less accessible. I can still actively participate from my other devices, but I must try a little harder.
Yoga. I am committed to daily exercise and stretching, and I have found that I can do yoga on every surface at any time of the day in the quiet. #noexcuses
Seven hours of sleep. After years of attempting to be a night owl AND morning person, I am trying to make a shift. Wherever I am, I am committed to wake up early to do my own work. We all need sleep, but we thrive when we get the number of hours of sleep our bodies require and that differs between humans. I need seven hours of sleep. I may think I need more, but I don’t. I have proven this to myself over and over again. Slumbering in bed may feel good, but walking the dog always feels better.
May this fresh and new year be full of fun, cheap and sustainable life experiments for you. No different than a scientist would do, if the experiment isn’t working as intended: make a change.