Creating space to let the sun shine in.

Hello Steemians! I missed you all last week!

It's still sinking in that I've successfully defended a PhD. I'm done. It was a really intense experience, preparing for it in the weeks beforehand, but also for the past 6 years. I needed a break to reset, unwind, and shift my focus. This past week was all about disconnecting. I drove down to Pennsylvania, about 9 hours in the car with breaks and little stops along the way. I actually really enjoyed the drive and it gave my mind a chance to catch up with everything going on in my life. With no internet and no phone, I allowed the impossible to enter my awareness, and I was rewarded for it. I've returned from my foray into the unknown with new perspectives, new connections, and new appreciation and gratitude for this experience we call life.

My runs for the week consisted of a lot of hill training because I was up in the mountains. The roads I was running on were lined with little streams that gurgled happily along.

My glutes definitely weren't used to the hills and I was rewarded with a very sore butt. Haha. It was a good change of pace though, and I had been missing feeling sore after a run or a workout (strange, I know). Luckily I had a nice dock to stretch on with a beautiful view of the lake that the lakehouse I was staying at was on.

The wildlife I saw on this trip was pretty astounding. Soooo many white-tailed deer, especially roaming around at dawn and dusk.

I also had the honour of seeing both a great blue heron and a bald eagle. Twice. I was too stupefied to capture either on camera and just enjoyed being in their presence. I took both to be good omens of things to come.

This trip was not only for relaxation purposes though. It was a learning experience. I am now a level II certified Vibrational Sound Therapy practitioner with some new tricks up my sleeve. I'm excited to try out some of the new techniques I learned on my clients and experiment with different configurations with my other instruments and music. They've already had a profound effect on my mindset, my interactions with others and my definition of reality. I made a conscious effort to decide what kind of reality I wanted to return to and set my intentions accordingly before heading home.

How was your week? Have you ever tried going for a week without phone or internet? What was your experience with it like?

Stay tuned ;)

Dr. Jackie O