Regaining a slow childhood

August has always held a certain amount of symbolism for me. As a child, it was the month of transition from summer vacation to the start of school. August is my warning bell. 

August is a fair sandwich. The start of the month is the Freeborn County Fair, my hometown county fair, while the end of the month is the Minnesota State Fair. The State Fair starts in August, but ends on Labor Day - also known as the last un-official day of summer in Minnesota. Because in Minnesota, the day after Labor Day is the first day of school. 

Then it's fall and Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas and then 2011 is over. Kinda depressing, eh? Especially for all the things that you planned to accomplish in 2011 that you haven't started yet. 

Where did the time go? The days and months go faster when you're a grown-up. Why? Why, as adults, do we not get the slow lifestyle of our childhood? 

Maybe it's a choice. Maybe because we try to do too much. So I thought I would challenge myself, and anyone else, to regain those slower moment between now and the end of the year.

Feel free to leave a comment and add some ideas for this 30-week challenge. Choose one thing each week to slow down and enjoy for yourself!

 

• Lay in the grass and notice the clouds
• Spend a day doing nothing except relaxing
  Eat your lunch outdoors
• Get a massage
• Turn off all your technology for a day (try to remember what it was like to be unreachable!)
• Hang out at Macy's and have them do your make-up
• Have Champagne for no reason at all except to celebrate life
• Call an old friend for lunch
• Compliment a stranger
• Compliment a co-worker
• Buy fresh flowers at the Farmer's Market for your house
• Ask a question and listen to the answer
• Brag about yourself and something you've done (it's okay to be proud of something you've done!)
• Say hello to a person on the street
• Pretend that you don’t know your age
• Make cookies from scratch (double the batch cuz you know you'll taste-test lots!)
• Smile
• Do a random act of kindness- possibly to a teacher
• Write a note to someone that impresses you. don't sign it
• Donate to a charity (and expect nothing in return)
• Eat your favorite ice cream without thinking about the calories
• Enjoy a bubble bath and a good book (the paper kind)
• Look through old photos and put them in a scrapbook. Write notes in your own handwriting.
• Make faces to amuse a baby