This picture by Vanessa Corral is laughable for many reasons, not the least of which, is that we’re not even a coffee-drinking family. I honestly don’t even remember the reasoning behind taking this shot except maybe to be funny? There are a couple of others in this series that are cute, of all of us standing around laughing, casually holding our (empty) mugs. But this one is my favorite.
Because, what in the world are we even doing??
There’s nothing in this photo that even resembles the truth about who we are. We’re all dressed somewhat nicely, gathered around the kitchen island, just chilling out with our coffee mugs. If we’re just hanging out in the kitchen we’re usually in jammies or very casual clothes. One of us (not naming any names) is usually climbing on the island. Someone is probably cleaning up a spill or vacuuming the relentless dog hair. Someone is probably breaking down an Amazon box to recycle and someone is probably doing some sort of arts and crafts that someone else will be cleaning up the remnants of for the next few days.
Things are usually pretty intense around these parts.
I was thinking about our theme for a girls night we did once called Simmer Down Girls Night Out, where the whole idea was finding your happy/cozy place before the holiday rush began, I couldn’t help but think about what a good practice it would be to take a moment as a family at least once over the weekend to pour a cuppa something and intentionally “simmer down” together. No agenda, just a moment of intentional peace, without distraction.
The whole idea of letting something simmer is to keep it just below the boiling point.
You’re not turning it off. You’re not pretending nothing is happening, you’re simply not allowing it to boil over. You’re making an intentional choice to move it to the back burner while you either rest or shift your focus. It will still be there when you get back. It merely needs to simmer for a little while.
I saw these two quotes and laughed out loud because they’re perfect examples of the options available to us when things get stressful:
“A woman is like a teabag, you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
“Discontented women are like pressure cookers. The steam rises and one day they just reach a boiling point.” ~ Bella Pollen
Hot water can make you stronger, because you know how to steep, and let it simmer.
OR
You can keep the lid on, never let off any steam, and let things boil up inside until they eventually blow.
Be a tea bag, not a pressure cooker.
Be intentional about learning to let some things simmer down.
to more love,
Crystal
