As I mentioned in my last post, the word I selected as my word of the year for 2022 is OUTSIDE. I also noted that I would share more about this word choice, and I wanted to do so before we dive into the rest of our amazing January content!
If you’ve checked out Wonder and Wander – Jackson, you can probably tell that we love to spend time outside, but as with all things on social media, you don’t see the back story – the whining, the battles, the packing, the prepping – all the things just to make the outside adventures happen. Sometimes the battles happen with just the kids, but sometimes they happen with me – to get motivated and moving.
But in this world we live in where screens are ever-present, I have decided that my job as a mom is to help my kids appreciate all the things around us that we usually take for granted (and to have less screen time along the way). To find joy in the simple things like gorgeous views, a nature hike, and the life cycles we get to experience. It’s so hard to compete with screen time, but it’s almost always worth the effort.
When I was visiting a local spot with the lovely Birthbrite ladies, they asked me if I was the type of person to get outside and explore during winter, and I just laughed. Nope. Not at all – I am not a fan of winter. And I’d be lying here if I didn’t mention the minor freakout I had as fall was quickly passing by where I realized that I’d still have to pump out content for Wonder and Wander even in less than ideal weather.
So as I thought about 2022, and reflected on the past two years of craziness, I also took a hard look at how outside time changes our moods. Cranky? Outside fixes it. Tired? Fresh air helps. Bored and mindlessly scrolling? Nature will help. Big has also started having some of these realizations himself. Recently after I pushed him to join us outside, he said, “I really didn’t want to go out, but now that I did, my body is so happy!”
And then there’s a less literal take on the word of the year. As a first-time small-business owner, there are so many things I need to tackle that are “outside” of my comfort zone. While I have been diving headfirst into some of these things, there are others that I have been doubting myself on or procrastinating on, and jumping outside of my comfort zone will help push me to keep moving forward with Wonder and Wander – Jackson!
So there you have it.
OUTSIDE.
We’ll be using this word to guide our content during the beginning months of 2022, and along the way, we hope to inspire you to join in on some outside adventures here in Jackson County!
