Leaving Things Behind

I’ve always been very good at filling space.

An empty afternoon? I can find something that needs doing.

A free weekend? Let’s make plans.

Ten quiet minutes? Apparently a perfect opportunity to check five different things on my phone.

I don’t think I even noticed I was doing it.

For a long time, being busy made me feel like I was doing life correctly.

If my day was full, it felt productive.

If my weekend had plans, it felt well spent.

And if I had nothing to do, there was almost this little voice asking whether I should be doing something.

Recently, though, I’ve been wondering:

What if I start leaving a few things behind?

Not dramatically.

I’m not deleting social media and moving into a wooden cabin.

I’ll probably still make too many plans sometimes.

I’ll still pick up my phone without knowing why.

And I’m sure I’ll still have days when I try to fit an unreasonable amount into twelve hours and then wonder why I’m tired.

But maybe I can become a little less interested in squeezing everything in.

Maybe leave some invitations unanswered for a little longer.

Leave a weekend empty.

Go somewhere without immediately thinking about where we should go after.

Not fill every quiet moment with my phone.

Not make every free hour useful.

And one thing I’d really like to leave behind is the feeling that resting has to be earned.

That one is harder.

Because there is always something else I could be doing.

An email to answer.

Something around the house.

A plan I should make.

Something I forgot yesterday.

I’m starting to suspect there always will be.

And maybe that means waiting until everything is finished before resting doesn’t make much sense.

So perhaps the dishes can wait while I finish my coffee outside. ☕

They’ve been remarkably patient so far.

I don’t really have a conclusion to this yet.

I’m just trying to notice the things I carry around because I genuinely want them there, and the things I keep doing simply because I’ve become used to them.

Maybe leaving things behind doesn’t have to mean changing your whole life.

Maybe it starts with one empty afternoon.

What would you leave behind?

If any of this feels familiar, I’d really love to hear your side of it.

Maybe it’s the need to always be productive.

Maybe it’s checking your phone every five minutes.

Overplanning.

Saying yes when you wanted to say no.

Or something completely different.

Leave it in the comments below.

I’d love for this to become a little space where we can share these things with each other — and maybe steal a few good ideas along the way.

With care, Laize 🤎