My Summer Away from the Computer

Hey all! I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in so long. This has been a crazy summer for me in a lot of ways, and the funny thing is, I've been swamped in everything but music. Even so, I can't say I haven't learned a lot this summer.

Italy was a completely incredible experience. Aside from the beautiful sights, I witnessed a quality of life that people in America unfortunately don't get to experience. Americans may be some of the most fortunate people in the world, but what I'm referring to is not financial success. I never realized how little time we have to enjoy the life we work so hard to maintain, and how stressed we are in comparison to other cultures. I was delighted to watch the Italian people enjoying life - relaxing at cafes, eating gelato, and drinking wine in the middle of the day when most Americans would be at their 9 to 5 jobs. I found myself envious, wishing that I could say goodbye to my neurotic tendencies and take in the simple pleasures all around me.

Picture I took of the Amalifi Coast. If I saw this view every day, I'd be enjoying life like the Italians do!

That being said, I found that I needed a break from everything. My obsession with facebook and twitter started to dwindle, and I'm sorry to say that I wasn't very thrilled to touch the computer at all (hence my lack of blog posts). My office job probably didn't help either, because I began to associate being on the computer with work. What I really needed was to get away from it all - to learn how to relax. Before Italy, my version of relaxing would have been to stare at facebook because I had free time, but this just stopped cutting it for me. I needed to sit down, ignore my phone, forget about facebook, and be in a place where no one could contact me. In a day and age where everyone can be reached within seconds, we all deserve to be unavailable from time to time.

Now, that doesn't mean that I don't love you all. To those of you who read my blog posts, thank you. To all my facebook and twitter followers, I thank you as well. You're all wonderful, and I really do enjoy reaching out to you through all of these amazing forms of social media. I just wish I could meet all of you face to face, because there are so many great things I'll never know about you simply by checking out your online profiles. 

Wishing you all peace of mind, in a world that never stops,

Leila