Winter Break: Reminder to take a break, to recharge, and to relax.

A record player holds the record, Angel Olson Big Time, a dark green transparent record with a vintage looking pink rose in the centre

Written by Elyse Longair

It’s called winter break for a reason. Here is your reminder (and mine) to take a break, to recharge, and to relax. Last night, for the first time in a long time I took time to relax. More accurately, I was exhausted after a long travel day, the whirlwind of Christmas and the non-stop busy & stressful semester. It all caught up to me and I needed to slow down. We dimmed the lights, curled up under a cozy, deep green, woolen blanket and listened to .

In her last song, Chasing the Sun, she beautifully sings:

“And there’s nothing like
Losing track of time who’s countin’
Winding around are we up are we down the mountainâ€

She continues…

“Everyone’s wondered where I’ve gone
Having too much fun doing nothing doing nothing busy doing
Doing nothing
Chasing the sun
Chasing the sun for youâ€

It felt like the gentle reminder I needed to hear, that its okay to stop and to do nothing. With several upcoming deadlines early January, I find this challenging, however, I am going to try to take some time to really listen and enjoy a record per day over the next week.

What will I be spinning? I pulled a handful of records, mood dependent from the collection here:

A compliation showing the covers of six different records. They are: Le Ren, Leftovers - Cat Power, Sings Dylan - Mort Garson, Mother Earth's Plantasia - Cut Worms, Alien Sunset - Angel Olsen, Big Time - John Prine, Aimless Love



I invite you to do the same and listen along with me, while doing nothing.