Sitting in a lake house made up of glass windows surrounded by tall, bare trees and flurries of snow, I felt like I was inside a snow globe. Last weekend, I and seven friends went to Berrien Springs, Mich., for a much-needed girls’ weekend away.
Outside of going into town one afternoon for lunch and shopping, we spent all our time inside the snow globe, electing to shut off from the real world and recharge. Even going outside for a snowy walk or a sit in the hot tub, there was no one else to be seen for miles, adding to the feeling of living in a separate world.
We spent the weekend playing games, painting, dancing, and talking. Mostly, we laughed — something that helped rejuvenate the soul at this weary time of year.
It’s rare to find one person, let alone a group of people, with whom you feel you can be truly yourself. I feel that and then some with this group of women, as they allow and inspire me to feel confident. In the handful of years that I’ve known them, I really feel that I’ve become more self-actualized and this weekend reinforced that.
It also reinforced how important it is to keep up with friendships. It’s so easy to get lost in the flurry of everyday life. Time is constantly flying by and it doesn’t take much to get bogged down.
So many times I’ve gotten caught up in, “Yeah, we’ll have to get together soon!” Then “soon” turns into six months which then becomes a year.
Though a weekend away may not be feasible, it can be just as cathartic to meet for a short coffee catch-up or a weeknight dinner. Even when it’s hard to want to leave the house in temperatures such as we experienced this week, I know it’s always worth the layers of winter wear and scraping of ice.
This week, even if it can only be a phone call, reach out to a friend who makes you feel like your best self. Something tells me you’ll feel great afterward.