These past two weeks were such a blur. From running around getting interviews and pictures to getting caught up with non-newspaper events, I cannot believe we are almost in the double-digit days of June. Wasn’t just yesterday May 20th? As we quickly approach our deadline for rough drafts, our staff is working hard to finish interviews and stories both for our print paper and online platforms.

Courtney’s Thoughts:

I think we all need to learn to slow down. I, along with many of us, have a tendency to attempt to jam pack every possible thing into each day. While doing this, I look forward to hours, days, weeks in advance, only to realize that — poof — there goes two weeks of time, lost in an endless shuffle.

I communicate with Meg multiple times a day to plan out what exactly we need to accomplish in the upcoming days. It wasn’t until late tonight that, whoops, we hadn’t written our blog.

Just like that, another thing had slipped through as we are hurrying, getting caught up by the speed of life. Take each day as it comes — be grateful for the small gifts in every moment, while cherishing and being mindful of what you are doing. I originally thought doing nothing was a surefire way for summer to fly by, but the polar opposite is just as effective to burn off time — running from event to event, being too busy to appreciate what you are doing, is quite simply as much of a time burner as sleeping in until 3 p.m. and staying in bed all day is. It’s, again, about finding that perfect balance of productivity and relaxation; of work and play; and of busyness and down time.

“And so taking the long way home through the market I slow my pace down. It doesn’t come naturally. My legs are programmed to trot briskly and my arms to pump up and down like pistons, but I force myself to stroll past the stalls and pavement cafes. To enjoy just being somewhere, rather than rushing from somewhere, to somewhere. Inhaling deep lungfuls of air, instead of my usual shallow breaths. I take a moment to just stop and look around me. And smile to myself.

For the first time in a long time, I can, quite literally, smell the coffee.”

— Alexandra Potter