Time to Be, Just Be

Does anyone know why President's Day is a holiday? I definitely didn't celebrate anything presidential this weekend. Don't get me wrong, I will always advocate for as many meaningless holidays as possible.

Because this holiday has no point and no time consuming associated celebration, I was able to take time just to be. I haven't just been in a long time. School is consuming, and if you allow it, it will find a way into every minute of your life. Planning, delivering, considering, and stressing are all possible to do at any time of the day--including right when you wake up, while you are having a meaningful conversation, when you are eating, when you are showering, and while you are dreaming. There is no clear division between work and rest, and so you quickly forget what it means to not work.

I had forgotten what it meant to be, to just be. I once heard someone say that he took a sabbath rest because he needed time to remember that the world gets along fine without him and that he was loved just because he was alive. Today I finally felt like I was alive. That I had permission to just exist without marking anything off of a checklist (I could wallpaper the apartment in checklists). I need sabbath to be free from checklist thinking.

I thank God for Presidents Day. I thank God for a meaningless holiday that allowed me the space to remember who I am, and that I am more than the sum of my accomplishments.

Here's to Presidents Day.