What Happens When You Say ‘No’ to Screens and ‘Yes’ to the Sky

Week 19, 2025

Sometimes the light we need isn’t on a screen… look up 🌈✨🫶

ℱ𝓇𝓸𝓂 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈... 🫶💌☕

So, this letter’s a little late—coming to you on a Tuesday instead of Sunday. First time for everything, right? I’ve sent a couple of these on Mondays before, but never this far into the week. It feels a bit odd, but life happens, and here we are. Thank you for waiting. I really appreciate it.

Last week (and some of the week before), I found myself dealing with something that caught me off guard. My eyes were sore, red, and so tired. I’d been spending far too much time staring at screens.

Eight hours a day at work.
More on my laptop at home after that.

It was all starting to take its toll, and my body was sending me a very clear message: take a break.

I had to listen. My right eye, which has been carrying the weight of my left one (info from my optician), was giving me a clear signal that it needed rest. So, I turned the brightness down on my work computer and stopped scrolling after hours. I initially did it because I had to, not because I wanted to.

It wasn’t anything grand or life-changing though, just a small change I needed to make for the sake of my eyes.

And you know what? I’ve honestly never felt better.

Perimenopause has also been a bit of a rollercoaster lately. You know those days when everything feels heavy, and you just want to retreat? Well, last Thursday, my husband asked if I wanted to take a random day off work. I almost said no, but then I stopped myself. It’s funny, isn’t it? The mind thinks of all the reasons not to do something that would actually help. But this time, I said yes.

And I’m so glad I did.

We spent the whole day outdoors:

• Walking in the sunshine

• Stopping for a cuppa at local cafes

• And drinking so much water because it was roasty toasty (I have a feeling that the overseas tourists might not agree but temps doubled overnight on our little Scottish island… so us natives were all in shock!)

I even managed to get a little tan on my arms and feet, which hasn’t happened in a year. And I can’t even tell you how good it felt. The day stretched out in a way that felt rare these days. It went… slowly.

How are your eyes today?

Your body?

Are you feeling any tension,
or can you feel a softening?

Let yourself breathe in.

Slow down for a moment.

And really check in with yourself.

There’s something so special about those slower moments, isn’t there? It takes me back to the days before constant notifications and messages. Remember Sunday afternoons in the 80s and 90s when life wasn’t rushing by?

• No texts or facetime

• Just showing up unannounced at someones door

I miss that.

Sometimes, I think my nervous system misses it too.

That day off was like a reset button for me.

I gave myself permission to do nothing.

And nature did the rest.

Have you had a moment like that recently?

A moment when time seemed to slow, just a little?

When you didn’t feel the pull to rush or do everything?

Close your eyes for a second,

and remember what that felt like.

Maybe it was in nature,

maybe it was just lying in bed,

but it’s worth remembering.

So here’s my thought: I might start sending these letters on Mondays from now on. A little space to pause and reset over the weekend before jumping back into the week. That way, I’m not rushing myself and hopefully, neither are you.

It feels good to acknowledge that sometimes, we need to slow down before we can move forward. It’s okay to give yourself that time.

What if today, you took just a few minutes to step outside?

To feel the warmth of the sun on your skin (or the breeze if that fits more)?

Imagine what it would feel like to just breathe deeply

and let the quiet wash over you.

No rush.

No expectations.

Just you, recharging, resetting.

Here’s a poem I wrote for you because, sometimes, the simplest things are the most powerful.

And if you need a moment to breathe, to step back, or to simply be without doing—I see you.

Breathe

Take a moment, just one,
To feel your feet on the ground,
To breathe in the quiet of the day,
And hear the soft whispers of your soul.

Without the rush,
Without the race,
Simply by being.

You are enough.

It’s okay to step away from the screens, from the noise, from the expectations.

That’s how we recharge.

That’s how we return to ourselves.

𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓉𝓊𝒹𝑒,

🙏 𝒟𝒶𝓃𝒶 𝓍𝑜