I hope you've been able to share some quality time with yourselves this week. If you haven't, there's still time to give yourself a KISS 😄, a great initiative by Hive account@minimalistliving, which not only gives us "blogging ideas revolving around the Minimalist Lifestyle" but invites us to get to know ourselves as we explore such ideas.

This is the writing prompt 👇

Why is me-time important for your well-being? What are some of your favorite me-time activities, and how do you include them into your schedule?

I chose three activities to illustrate my ideas about what me-time means to me and how I get a little of it: my longing for the sea in solitude, my need to feel nature and its creatures, and the importance of my cats to my emotional well-being. I also had some fun picking the photos to show you 😄 That said, I must be honest and admit that sometimes the hustle and bustle gets the better of me and I seek refuge in the first moment of the day, when I have my morning coffee; this is usually enough to repair the damage of a crazy day.

My kitchen at 5:40 a.m. today

Me-Time

When you have a family to support, two or even three jobs to fulfill and so many other occupations and worries, you must find moments for yourself or life will eat you up. For me, me-time is my salvation; it makes me feel more like a natural subject instead of an artificial, functional object at the service of the great machinery that the world has become.

Some Me-Time Like This

BEACH

I'd like to say that I spend my favorite me-time at the beach...

Usually my husband and I come to bathe in the sea some day during the week between Monday and Thursday, when there are less people. We often come here with just a bottle of water, a towel and a improvised waterproof case for the car keys.

This part of Playa San Luis (San Luis Beach) is known as Los Bordones because of the hotel; it's near the entrance to the city and a 12-15 min drive from my house.

This is quite relaxing for me, but I'm never alone here, so I can't say it's my favorite way to spend some me-time--it's not safe for me to come here by myself just in case you're wondering.

I do love being here by the sea, listening to the waves, feeling the breeze and the sun and hearing the engines of the fishing boats in the distance. It's really soothing, healing.

GREEN FEELING

I need vegetation near me. Right now, I can't honor you with a decent explanation. But I can tell you that I can get depressed if I don't have nature near me; at best, a wild landscape in sight. Maybe that's why our garden has been in the wild for a year now, haha 🙊🙈

Fortunately, I get up very early when the weather is still cool. I can have my coffee inside the house with my cats or on the porch next to the nice little piece of nature that is the front yard of the house, although I can only do this if I have already given the doggies their treat.

I enjoy petting my furry companions. And I sometimes regret not spending more time in the yard, but the weather doesn't allow it; often, the heat is strong and I have to take shelter.

Contemplating nature helps me breathe and feel calm. For a moment, I imagine us all naked of everything, and I don't mean naked of our clothes, shoes and jewelry only, but naked of complexes, professions, buildings and technologies. I remind myself that we are all tailor-made for this world and that as different as we may be from each other, green is still green.

All this green saved my spirit during the pandemic. Despite the uncertainty and fear of the disease, my true self, that beyond the flesh, had total immunity and I enjoyed every moment of silence and peace among the trees and bushes of the house--Oh, yes, like a mad woman detached from reality 😁

Our mango tree in the front yard

some plants in the back yard & Paquito

For me, the green feeling coming from plants and animals is the best when it comes to me-time because it happily reminds me of my imperfection and makes me humble.

Queen Guinevere, one of our three tortoises

CATS ARE A BIG PLUS

My second favorite me-time happens in my bedroom as soon as I wake up. We have three cats, My cats roam free in the house, and at night, we leave the bedroom door open, so they can come and go as they please. Then it's not unusual for them to wake me up at 6 am--or to try, hehe--if they see that I'm still asleep.

...also when I alternate short naps and reading in the studio (where I have a bed and a hammock).

Often, Horacia's face is the first thing I see when I open my eyes at dawn.

I usually wake up at 5:30 am before my alarm goes off. Believe me when I tell you that five minutes of this before I get out of bed are just enough to make my day. The 5-10 minutes that I spend petting my kitties allow me to ease my mind. I can concentrate on the the movement of my hand as it gently strokes the soft fur, and the purr resonates in my stomach and chest, making me relax a lot. How cool is that? (only if you happen to like cats).

In addition, Horacia is an exemplary reader. When I have trouble understanding cultural clues from ancient texts, Horacia provides very eloquent explanations.

These moments of peace, almost hedonistic, are extremely important for me, as I work a lot and worry a lot about everything, or used to (to the point of migraine). Hence, I've taught myself to keep my worries to a minimum, to let people solve their problems instead of helping them more than I should--must.

My cats help me a lot with that and that opens a space for me to meditate on my own needs and put my mind to it in the best way--but only after I feed them and pet them properly; otherwise, they wouldn't let me 😄

TIME

& My Favorite Moment

In addition to enjoying me-time right after I wake up each morning, I must make time to lie down in the late afternoon and rest quietly and undisturbed. This is sacred and my favorite time as far as me-time is concerned--it has a schedule but no program 🙃--.At this point, I have already accomplished all the daily activities and caught up with my family, especially my son who lives out of the country, so I feel confident enough to step away from the cell phone and sit down with a cup of coffee or tea or a glass of wine and do whatever it is that I don't need to leave the house. I take off my shoes, put on comfortable clothes, let my hair down and do whatever I want from sleeping to sewing; I could write a sonnet or do a little experiment in the kitchen; I could go to the backyard and stretch or sit and meditate. It's pure freedom, or at least the illusion of it.

How about you?

What's your favorite me-time activity?

All text and images are my own. I have taken the pictures with my Redmi 9T cell phone. And if any GIFs here, I've used GIPHY for all them.

Thank you so much for your visit :)

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