Busy Busy

(photo via) 

My morning reading led me to the article The 'Busy' Trap today, and I could not stop nodding and amen-ing in between sips of coffee. In a city hustling and bustling as Washington D.C., it is so easy to fall into the 'busy trap', or you 'll end up feeling lousy if you're not an exclusive member of the "oh, I'll have to check my calendar" club.  As Mr. Kreider puts it,  your life cannot be 'silly or trivial' if you're always listing off your numerous to-dos and responsibilities followed by an exhale of exhaustion. It's just more cool to be busy, right?

This mentality of busyness was so so new to me upon moving to D.C. After college, I spent a few years in Boston, and I learned the true understanding of enjoying life. While my friends and I were busy with our jobs (some juggling 2-3), volunteering when we could, and managing to take a few classes,  my snapshot memories of those years consist of lazy Sunday dinners induced with bottles of wine, late night chats on the back porch that stretched into the wee hours of the evening and random weekend jaunts up and down the Eastern coast. I'm sure these moments weren't specific to Boston, but rather the people I had chosen to create my life with. 

Now don't get me wrong, professional development and giving my time to serve others will always be coveted and sought after, but I hope to strive for a work/life balance, to send my regrets to meaningless networking functions, and to remember that the "best investment of my limited time on earth" is to spend time with those I love.