The text was simple: I’m not feeling well. I’m going to stay home today.
With a press of the “send” button, a world of freedom unfolded. This was the freedom to spend time, my time, exactly the way I wanted.
Not quite akin to Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I spent the day catching up on emails to friends and clients. I got a coffee and an egg sandwich at Dunkin’ Donuts and enjoyed them while I sat in the parking lot with a perfect view down Main Street. I watched a woman walk to her mailbox, a man crossed the street by the grocery store, and a couple dozen cars passed by. My dog Scout and I hiked through a nearby orchard. Along our route, I snapped photographs, admired formations of fungi on trees, and took long pauses to breathe in the fresh December air. Scout and I went to the vet for her annual check up, where she tried to kill the office cat a dozen times. (It was one wily cat!) She was fed lots of treats for getting blood drawn, a vaccination, and her toenails clipped. We returned home and I made dinner for when my wife got home from work.
It was a great day! It was a full day. It was exactly what I needed to feel more like me. And here’s the thing I noticed the most: everything slowed down. I was experiencing moments more. The thoughts that often occupy my headspace didn’t maintain their stronghold. I let them go. I was enjoying life, experiencing freedom, and living in the present.
What does it mean to feel “well”? Do I even know what is possible? What’s my peak “well” on the wellness spectrum? There’s more to explore. Having experienced a day that could have otherwise been spent at the office, I know I felt closer to “well” by the end of the day than I did when it started.