Anything is Better Than the Sofa: A Mantra for Life's Adventures | Day 297 of my 2023 Journal

Anything is better than the sofa!

Eleven years ago, when my youngest child was a newborn, we went on a 100-day road trip in Europe. My brother flew to meet us in Spain and joined the party for about six weeks.

This Road trip was epic. In so many ways. For this reflection, I will share only one point, a statement presented by my brother, a statement that stuck with us like a mantra and has become central to our shared understanding of life.

He said: “Anything is better than the sofa. You need to get out there. You might have a plan, you probably need a plan, but at the end of the day, the main purpose of that plan is to get you out there. Because anything is better than the sofa.”

There are, of course, things where the sofa is a better alternative. But I think if you try, you get the point.

I got the point on Tuesday where the downpour started at eight in the morning and continued the entire day. We spent a lot of time on the sofa on that day.

All doing our things: writing, working, exploring, studying, reading, gaming.

At the same time, the jet tag had an unforeseen backlash. We thought we were over it, getting used to the new sleeping and eating rhythm - and then exhaustion set in. Instead of feeling we were on top of the energies, it suddenly felt like we had been up all night for almost a week.

Low energy, tropical rain, sofa. The combo was BORING. We did get some things done, and it was a calm and cozy day.

Jesper and Storm enjoyed being stupid and playing basketball with swimming goggles on, to avoid getting the rain in their eyes. I walked in the sunset in a new direction, taking in the city with all the water. But at the end of the day, I felt it was bent in neon, shouting from the rooftops, written 100 times on the blackboard:

Anything is better than the sofa.

Just get out there.

And so continues our soft landing in Mexico, more real stuff slipping through the cracks of Tourist Friendly Surface, an unfolding of our spirits on new grounds, a realization we are on track, and every context has its treasures.

Even a rainy day on the sofa reminds us how beautiful it all is, and how little things, in reality, very often are big things.

With love

Cecilie Conrad

Thank you for reading
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