Lillie Unplugged

We have a tradition here at the Spencer household.  Once a week we mosey on down to our neighborhood Starbucks.  The kids get hot chocolates or strawberry frappacinos.  I get my venti non-fat, no water chai latte.  Yes, I speak three languages - English, Swahili and Starbucks.  The kids read or play games and I load up my laptop to write, read or catch up on emails.

But then other day, I forgot my laptop and my phone was dead.  I started to panic.  Now what?!  The kids, being much more organized than me, came prepared and didn't want to skip it, so we went.

I stared longingly at the GameStop window next door advertising used iPads for sale.  I was that desperate.

Instead, I sat back and listened to the Jazz music and people watched, and it was wonderful!  I swear I think my heartbeat actually slowed down.  It felt good.  I mean, really good.  By disconnecting, I was able to reconnect.  I quit obsessing about Amazon rankings and email alerts. I paid more attention to the world around me, had a fantastic conversation with my children and just relaxed. 

I got some great ideas, too!  At least two people crossed my path that set my creative juices flowing.  I grabbed a #2 pencil and an abandoned composition notebook in my son's backpack and started writing.  If I do say so myself, it's some of the best stuff I've written in a while.

My daughter leaned over and saw the astericks and the notes in the margin and asked me what that was.  I told it her it was editing - old school.

And it felt good.