As a girl, each night my Golden Retriever Sunny and I would sit on the wooden steps in my front yard that overlooked the city of San Jose and stare in awe as the radiant shining sun dipped beneath the purple-hue mountains on the other side of our valley across a million sparkling city lights .
I was blessed to grow up with a wild and free childhood, free of screens and digital distractions. I was always barefoot climbing trees, kicking soccer balls, swimming and running until I was sweaty and red in the face, and doing dozens of back handsprings and cartwheels. And I made every effort to catch as many California sunsets as I could, believing in my little girl spirit that they were a daily gift from my Creator. Today, I’m still a sunrise chaser and a sunset catcher.
In my book Social Media Reset, I have a chapter titled “Whimsy, Rest, Wonder, and Play.” I talk about the importance of finding delight in the big and little things of life, living in wonder and awe of creation and how it restores our souls, the necessity of rest and taking a day off, and the case for playing and laughing as much as you can.
I recently saw a sketch of how different our brain looks when we are scrolling verses watching a sunset (blog post to come!). We weren’t created for a digital life — we were created for an embodied life of whimsy, wonder, and true connection. So whether the are a lot of sunsets or hardly any at all where you live, I encourage you to escape to the wild and free corners of the earth as often as you can.
Even though I live in the most populated state in the country with 40 million people, I’m in disbelief that so often I am the only one on an stretch of endless beach or mountain trails. Let’s live in awe and soak in all the beauty and splendor of life. Now, take your shoes off and go barefoot, swim in a creek or the sea, rise to the sunrise, plant flowers, get dirt under your nails, and catch as many sunsets and shooting stars as you can. Rebel against the noise and chaos of this world and sprint to empty and beautiful places where you can be restored by the gifts of silence, solitude, and beauty.
