Three weeks ago my husband and I moved into hopefully what will be our forever home. While we had a pretty detailed “must have” list – at the top of our priorities was finding a place with beautiful tree-filled surroundings. At this point in our life’s journey the serenity of nature is something we both have concluded is greatly needed for our mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing.
From the minute we stepped into the front door and out onto the veranda, the shared feeling was one of exuberant joy . . . “this house feels like home.” Along with the gorgeous sunsets, serenity and simplicity just seemed to stream through every leaf embossed branch. The dark sky ordinance mandated by our HOA allowed a nightly view of the stars we hadn’t witnessed in a very long time. Needless to say, we found our little slice of heaven.
Then AT&T showed up to get us online and plugged in. Unfortunately in today’s Covid “work from home” world, Roku, routers and high speed internet are also “must haves”. We explored all the options and chose their newest wireless TV/internet package which was so brand new; it was the technician’s first installation. Would you like a little reality with your slice of heaven?
In the first week, our TV probably shut down a couple of times a day. There was only one solution. Unplug the TV from the wireless box . . . wait about 2 minutes to allow it to reboot, plug it back in and Eureka – back to “Insane Pools: Off the Deep End” our newly discovered indulgence.
Two weeks prior to our move and a couple of weeks in our new abode I had been feeling a renewed sense of peace and calm. While the beauty of the vistas definitely set the scene, it occurred to me there was a deeper cause. The truth was, because I had such little time to do anything but focus on our move, I had completely unplugged. I had turned off the news and had allowed myself a reprieve from all things political. Facebook? No time to peruse!
Instead of tuning-in to the morning news shows while drinking my coffee – I sat outside and watched the hummingbirds, squirrels and deer. Quiet. Calm. For a moment, the world and all the woes of a pandemic and its politically charged atmosphere disappeared. Refreshed!
Today as I decided what to share with all of you, I thought of the fortuitous lesson of the “not so perfect” AT&T wireless revolution guaranteed to make all of our entertainment dreams come true.
The potentially frustrating message “you have no internet connection” now translates into “unplug for a moment and try again” which is exactly the perfect gentle reminder I need for the rest of my day and indeed for the rest of my journey.
Whether you love to dive into a juicy novel, take a long walk through the woods or get your fingers dirty in the garden – each of us can live a much happier, peaceful existence if we occasionally pause, unplug from the chaos of the world and allow our souls to reboot and refresh with the simple joys. Thank you AT&T for reminding me.
The Zen Den
Hello and welcome to The Zen Den. My name is Alison and while I am passionate about many things, my most inspiring driving force is human connection. Blogger, content writer, orthopedic exercise specialist, motivational speaker, international yoga pro, published songwriter, avid poker player, mom and wife are just a few of my titles. But when I do my job at NASA, I am known simply as “The Fairy Zenmother” a role I deeply love because people invite me into their space to help them find their center, relax and stretch their muscles and destress their mind. Here in the blogosphere version of The Zen Den, I invite you into my world where I will explore ideas for creating a better tomorrow and a kinder today. And hopefully, with insight, authenticity and humor; my words, observations and experiences will help you feel calm, centered, intellectually challenged and spiritually enlightened. Alternatively, if you have something you would like to see covered in The Zen Den, just let me know. Your feedback is welcome and valuable to the success of this blog. Finally, my heart is filled with gratitude to have this opportunity to share with all of you.
