We had an absolutely gorgeous late summer weekend here. Blue skies, cool breezes, and low temps. It seemed like lots of folks were out of town too, squeezing out that last drop of summer at their cabins or on a lake somewhere.

We went for a walk early Saturday morning—early for us, anyway—and that made the whole day feel longer. Languid, luxurious. I spent it mostly doing nothing. Reading a book in the back yard with an ice-cold Diet Cherry Pepsi. Walking to get ice cream after dinner (which seemed to be everyone’s idea—the line at our local shop was the longest I’d seen).

Sunday was more of the same—another easy, slow day. It was so nice out, I hand-washed our car. I read a book in the back yard again too. I think we subconsciously decided to take things easy before heading to NYC this week.

On Thursday I had my second appointment with my therapist. This session was less me blurting out all the things I’d kept in my head leading up to me scheduling the first appointment and more digging into the specifics of why I might be feeling the way I’m feeling.

I’m not quite sure how we ended up there, but at the tail end of our session she encouraged me to do more writing. I brought a notebook to the session, which prompted my therapist to ask if I kept a journal. I said I’ve tried many times over the years starting in high school, but always abandon them. From there I segued into how I’m a writer, my small fiction publishing success, my training as a journalist. She suggested that by tapping into that creative side of myself more I may discover internally some of what I’ve been looking for externally and encouraged me to try writing a few times between then and our next session.

I of course immediately turned that into a tool-finding task and ordered a new notebook (technically a sketchbook) and some new pens. However, I also started a new note on my phone for a story idea that at the very least interests and excites me. It’s a new idea, too, not one of the ones I’ve been carrying around in my head or leaving in unfinished drafts over the years. I’m gonna try not to wait until I have the perfect tools to start writing and just try to get some of the idea out of my head and onto the page.

Things I enjoyed this week