The blank spaces in my planner excite me equally as much as the plans I've written in. Sometimes I use that free time to blog or stay in to watch a documentary. Sometimes I book a trip to Vegas. This past weekend I chose the latter. In today's technology driven world, we have apps that tell us which route to take and which restaurants to choose. While my Type-A personality leaps for joy at the amount of organization technology provides, I started to wonder if keeping my life overly organized was making me anxious. Alison Callan, co-author of You Are Meant For More, describes that “when you have too much of a rigid routine, you can feel really constricted. You’re not open to new experiences that don’t align with your plan, even though they could be very enriching. When we look for opportunities, we rarely miss them, but when we are stuck in our blinkered view of life-by-diary only, we ignore the wonders of the world and what might pop up.”
The takeaway is a bit more profound, or at least I took it to be. Allowing my life to be sprinkled with spontaneity requires me to leave room for discovering new places (near or far)—for being spontaneous—for “doing Nothing.” Perhaps I’ve known how to do that since I was five:
I'm not promoting that you book a weekend trip to Vegas with your best friend, but I've found that being open to spontaneous events and allowing myself time to reflect rather than rushing from one planned activity to the next brought me heaps of joy and allowed me to become less anxious.
Brooke and I stayed at the Encore Resort at the Wynn and had so much fun enjoying their restaurants and amenities. Due to the global situation, masks are required and everyone is spaced out at restaurants. We started our first night in the city of lights at one of my favorite restaurants in the world, Sinatra's. We sipped French martinis to the sound of the voice of the man the restaurant shares it's name with. After, we embarked on our first full day in Vegas at Jardin, a boujee bistro style restaurant adjacent to the main pool at the Encore. Our amazing waiter Rick introduced us to the "Early Bird" cocktail! This yummy signature cocktail's ingredients rival the cuteness of the glass - they come delivered in a bird shaped glass fitted with an orchid flower!
Early Bird Cocktail - Grey Goose L'Orange Vodka, Aperol, Prosecco, passion fruit, lime
We spent the day at the Encore Beach Club where the epitome of day club perfection manifests itself in your ice bucket of Fiji Water and mixers. There's a reason why this place is known as one of the best pool parties in the world, and let me tell you, it has yet to let me down. Brooke and I danced the day away until it was time to change for dinner. That's the beauty of spontaneous trips - you're forced to switch out of auto pilot and into a life where you enjoy every second of exactly what you choose to do. We concluded our last night in Vegas ended over the most amazing dessert at the Cosmopolitan's STK.
The mystery of life is what makes the random events more interesting. I hope this post inspired you to utilize those blank spaces in your planner to the fullest extent! Here are some ways to sprinkle spontaneity into your life today:
1) Schedule mini moments of freedom throughout your day - I started allowing myself time to read more
2) Say yes to more - be okay with saying no to things that don’t bring you joy and allow yourself to say yes to things that will!
3) Take up a new hobby
4) Go explore a new location - you could get your girls together and try out a new restaurant that none of you have been to yet!
Here's what I packed: