It’s good for the soul to have a weekend where there is nothing planned.
It’s good for the soul to look at the calendar and see that every night of the weekend is free, and then to see that it is a long weekend and you get an extra day to procrastinate responsibility. It’s good for the soul, for both our souls, when I see that instead of weekend packing as I am prone to do, that I left our weekend empty, save a morning wedding on Saturday that was so relaxing and lovely it barely counts as commitment.
It’s good for the soul to keep the weekend free. The reading of the magazines that have piled up, the watching of the really stupid tv shows, the walks for ice cream, the take-out Chinese food, the bike rides, the dinners with friends where we all wear grungy clothes, and the reorganizing of the pictures on the fridge – all these things build up a deep reserve of quiet in the soul. When you look at the calendar and see that this is the last weekend of its kind, when you see that every weekend till Christmas appears to be full of events, dinners, studying, paper writing, travel – then the quiet of this weekend sinks into your soul and lets comfort wash over your entire body.
It’s good for the soul to have a down weekend, and it is fitting that this weekend is the last one of summer. It lets summer go out not in a wild finale, but rather a gentle ebbing, a soft fading away that lets a still small glow stay with you, like the last embers of a perfect fire, like the final fireflies that disappear against the night. This glow, this stillness, this weekend, this pause before the frenzy of autumn, it strengthens the soul and fills a deep well of quiet that will have to suffice in the weeks to come.
This weekend has been so very good for my soul.
The Art in Life 
I love this!! We are doing this as well! Blessings to you! 🙂
That sounds perfect–sadly, as a college student, I’m already in the throes of stress since classes started a week ago! This post reminded me to take a breath, though because even in the busiest of times it is important to find peace.
The college I teach at doesn’t go back until today and I am so thankful, but I can understand your pain. Labor day weekend when I was in undergrad was basically the first of many homework vacation ruining weekends. Hopefully you can find some quiet in the crazy!
This is why introverts are the best sort of people. They understand that beauty isn’t always dynamic.
True, but I have to offer a little shout out to my fellow extroverts that we can love quiet beauty too. : ) I am pretty much a textbook extrovert where I get super energized by crowds and love being the life of the party, but I can also find — and love — the soft and still beauty of quiet and repose. It might not energize, but it restores, if that makes any sense.
Oops, I assumed too quickly. That’s awkward. Extroverts who enjoy peace–that really shouldn’t surprise me, but it does!
Hannah, you have such a way with words. “this weekend…fills a deep well of quiet that will have to suffice in the weeks to come.” Amen to that. This peaceful weekend has been a wonderful, gentle beginning to what hopefully won’t be TOO chaotic of an autumn.
Thank you so much!
Just gorgeous! A way with words indeed!
I’m looking forward to an unplanned weekend. So much peace and joy!
I hear you. I too am a weekend crammer, but this past weekend we had nothing planned, and it was bliss. We even had a spontaneous Father’s Day (in New Zealand) picnic amongst the spring flowers.
I want a New Zealand picnic amongst the spring flowers!!! That sounds so perfect!!!
Amen! That wasn’t my weekend, but I agree. Since I work two jobs, I try to have at least one evening or one day that I can be home and add to the ‘well of quiet’ within. Thanks for writing.
It doesn’t matter what day the quiet comes… so long as it comes!
You have a wonderful skill to write from the heart. Thanks for sharing it!