Recently, I had an intense conversation with a loved one—I don’t mean mean explosive. The talk went as well as it could have gone, but truths were conveyed with the highest level of compassion possible. Afterwards, I got in my car and drove by memory to this spot. 

I hadn’t been here since 2007. It’s the little inlet next to the boat club where I rowed in high school. This bit of water was the site of many, many drills.

It takes some TIME to get out there, and I used to commit to six days a week for roughly a quarter or roughly half the year. The hours racked up. Managing my time grew more intense as my schoolwork stress increased. 

What made it worth it? (The people, yes, but I tend to love my teammates no matter the sport or project.)

It was being outside. Specifically, it was being around water. Rowing is one of the few school sports where you have to develop a relationship with nature, an awareness of how to adapt to the weather and the way the water responds. Swimmers are most often practicing in pools and don’t need to worry about following the shoreline. Soccer players may have to play in the rain but the mud won’t reach up and trip them like a big wave will come and slosh into a boat. 

Rowing is a very inconvenient sport in many ways, but we loved it. The entire team was made of driven, adventurous people, who had a lot of other ways to spend their time. 

The outdoors—the wilder, the better—is a natural antidote to stress. (Science isn’t my strong suit, but there have been studies. Feel free to research.) This was why I committed to rowing. 

It’s also why I:

• took long walks around campus in college (I also rowed there for two years/four regatta seasons)

• walked home from work through Central Park while living in NYC, even when I had manuscripts to read

• Walked the mile or so to the library to return books rather than drive (even when it was endlessly raining in Portland, even now)

I crave being outside, because for most of my life, it was one of the ways I renewed my calm. 

What a gift, as a teenager, to be required to spend a couple hours on a lake every day rather than just going straight from my studies at school to my studies at home.

If you have access to nature or to sports right now, and you want to try it out, go for it. 

But I’m bringing it up because a lot of y’all are going back to school right now. Some of you are headed off to college. Some of you are headed to in-person school and then finding yourself returning home again due to outbreaks.

Back to school can be a bit scary at the best of times. Right now, it’s even more stressful. Like me finding my way to the lake after an intense conversation, you may need to take a break after the intensity of your day. 

I invite you to take time to decompress. 

Remember what you used to do to wind down before this COVID era. 

Even if you can’t do it how you used to, there’s a way to adapt it to serve you now—like when I shifted from rowing every day to walking when I could.

Other adults may be reminding you this right now too, but remember: 

Taking care of your mind by decompressing is JUST as important as putting more knowledge into it. Maybe more so.

Take care, sweet ones.

Originally posted via Instagram on 8/20/20.