Some of us are still shoveling snow, and some of us are already sweating. March has been…wild. How about we all escape to the south of France for a few minutes? You guessed it, it’s time again for Field Trip Friday!

From our base at the enchanting Le Vieux Couvent, our little group of intrepid sketchers explored a few of the stunning villages of the Lot Valley. Today I’ll share just two of them, Saint-Cirq Lapopie and Castelfranc.

Saint-Cirq Lapopie perches on a cliff 300 feet above the Lot river, the homes huddled at the feet of the church, dedicated to Saint Cyr and his mother, Saint Juliette. Since we were there in October, many shops and restaurants were closed for the season, but that just gave us more time to walk off our goat cheese while exploring the windy streets and admiring the breathtaking views. The entire village is classed as a historical monument, and many of the homes, built between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, are well preserved. It’s also been voted one of the most beautiful villages in France, and I couldn’t agree more. It was one of my favorite excursions.

Even the doors and door knockers were fascinating!

Castelfranc is a teensy (434 people) but adorable village where we sketched and picnicked one chilly day. It’s so teensy that I was unable to find out much about it, other than it was founded in the thirteenth century by the Bishop of Cahors. 

I sketched this scarecrow in the “garden of the senses” (jardin des sens):

If you would like to visit Le Vieux Couvent and explore the Lot Valley with watercolor artist and teacher Laure Ferlita, I have good news. Laure plans a return trip to LVC in September 2019. Click here for more information (no affiliation). 

I’ve been playing with my theme of mindfulness these past 10 days—doing simple things like turning off the radio while I drive so I can hear myself think, pausing between tasks to take a breath and notice my surroundings, etc.  A sub-theme has appeared: listening*.

What I’m hearing, especially from my body, is that I need to take better care of myself. In addition to the pulled muscles from the fall from Tank, I’ve been dealing with severe tendonitis in my right (dominant) wrist and forearm. My preferred method of self-care, ignoring discomfort and pain and hoping it goes away, isn’t working. I’m also due for some routine checkups at various healthcare practitioners’ offices. The pain I’ve been having has impacted my exercise habits, which is a problem in itself. It’s time to reevaluate how I take care of my physical health, and devote a little more time and attention to it.

After a season of hard work preparing for my trip to France, and a season of turmoil, stress, and change following my dad’s death and moving Tank, I find I need extra time to care for my body, mind, and heart. I need renewal, nourishing, and to cut myself some slack. I do want to keep building my freelance business, and I have new projects I’m excited to work on, both professionally and personally. But at the same time, I’m trying to be better at responding when my mind cries “enough!” and my body stiffens from sitting at my desk and begs for some movement.

I know I’m lucky to have the flexibility I have—it’s much easier for me to move things around to get the healing and rejuvenation I need than it is for those who work full time for someone else, or who have small children at home. I’ve been in those situations, and I’m grateful for my current life stage…even if it is a bit challenging physically.

I also know that some of the crazy mind pressure I feel is coming from me and no one else. I know it’s important to set and reach goals, and not to waste hour after hour of precious time, but that constant, driving voice that remains impossible to please…that voice needs to stop.

And that’s what mindfulness has revealed so far this month!

How do you find balance when you need to work, but you also need rest and rejuvenation?

*I’ll be writing more about listening in March’s Happy Little Thoughts newsletter, a once-a-month email in which I share unique content, favorite recent reads, and other happy little things—click here to subscribe. 

In other news:

One of my favorite freelance articles ever has just been printed: “An American Quarter Horse in France” (click on the title to read the article). Monica and Bandit’s story is delightful—I hope you’ll check it out!

Though you may not have noticed, I sometimes choose a monthly theme around which I loosely organize my posts on Catching Happiness. For example, February’s was the unimaginative-but-appropriate “Love.” As I was casting around for a theme for March, I happened upon the Action for Happiness March calendar, “Mindful March”—how perfect! (Printable PDF file here.)

I’ve been bemoaning the speed with which life seems to be moving (HOW can it be March already?!) and feel like I’ve been missing my own life. I still feel anxious and stressed, even though things have settled down considerably after the whirlwind that was the last three months of 2018. I could do with a dose of mindfulness. Maybe you could, too? We can all benefit from paying more attention to the present moment.

So this month, I won’t be just writing a few posts related to mindfulness, I’ll be actively trying to practice it.

For me, mindfulness involves paying attention, focusing on the present moment and what I’m doing, thinking, or feeling. It has elements of appreciation and gratitude, because if I’m paying attention, I notice the simple pleasures and everyday adventures that populate my life. My worries fade, and I’m able to see the larger panorama, the ebb and flow of my own life’s experience. No matter what is happening, this, too, shall pass. As James Baraz says, “Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).”

How else might we (I) practice mindfulness this month? Here are a few things I’m going to try:

Would you like to explore mindfulness together? What do you do, or avoid doing, in order to become more mindful?

“When we can be centered in ourselves, even for brief periods of time in the face of the pull of the outer world, not having to look elsewhere for something to fill us up or make us happy, we can be at home wherever we find ourselves, at peace with things as they are,

moment by moment.”

―Jon Kabat-Zinn