Bunker Hill Monument {Living Simply: Slow Down & Enjoy}

by simplylife on January 18, 2013

{Living Simply 2013}

 

At the start of this year, I asked what you have done, are doing and/or hope to do to live more simply in 2013.  I will be featuring a different response in the upcoming weeks/months so we can all learn from each other.  Feel free to email me at simplylife1@gmail.com or leave a comment on the post with your response to be featured (you don’t need a blog to participate)!  Here are the previous posts: 1, 2, and 3.

Andrea at Farmer in the Dell said: This year, as a reminder for me to live simply, I am going to try and slow down and enjoy the small moments. I am constantly rushing around and I need to just “pause” and take in the small things. Birds chirping, sunshine on my face, a cold breeze on a chilly run ect.

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What a beautiful comment and reminder to us all that often times, the most meaningful moments are sitting right in front of us the entire time- we just need to become aware of them!  It’s definitely easy to get caught-up in our day-to-day routines and busy schedules and miss the small things along the way that we truly value the most.

My husband and I have now lived in Boston nearly 5 years.  When we first moved here, we were constantly taking advantage of all experiences available in our backyard: walking The Freedom Trail, scenic picnics along The Charles River, bargaining for produce at Haymarket, and the list goes on.

Soon, the city became familiar to us and we started to take some of the most simple places for granted.  Last weekend,  we decided to do exactly what Andrea mentioned in the quote above: to slow down and enjoy the small moments.

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We got in our car and drove to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, MA.  I’ve driven through Charlestown plenty of times in the past 5 years and have seen the moment from my review mirror, but never took the time to actually get out of the car and appreciate this historic site.

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It ended up being the perfect afternoon.  We walked through this charming, picturesque neighborhood and even climbed to the top of the monument!

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It was such a great reminder that sometimes slowing down to appreciate what is right around us can be the most simple, yet meaningful experiences.

~What have you slowed down to appreciate lately?

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  • Belinda @zomppa

    A favorite spot – live wandering those streets!

  • http://whatisbakinginthebarbershop.blogspot.com/ Colleen

    Boston has so many wonderful spaces to explore. If I start to get fed up by the traffic or hustle and bustle, etc., I always try to remind myself that we live in such a great city that has SO much to offer us! Must take advantage. :)

    • http://www.simplylifeblog.com/ Simply Life

      Agreed! There’s still so much yet to be seen here!

  • Mom

    Nice intentional pause here. Your brother did that too recently and spent a weekend walking around the city others travel to see. I started sitting and reading a daily inspirational book in the morning that your sister bought me…it’s nice.

  • http://megan-deliciousdishings.blogspot.com/ Megan

    This is such a good idea. It can be hard to slow down and appreciate what’s right around us sometimes. Right now I am feeling incredibly overwhelmed and this reminder is so helpful.

  • http://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/ Joanne (eats well with others)

    There are so many things like this in the NYC area that I take for granted and have never seen even though I’ve lived here my whole life! I need to take more time to really enjoy my surroundings. :)

    • http://www.simplylifeblog.com/ Simply Life

      Yes! Sometimes I think it’s best to “be a tourist in your own city” for a day!

  • http://www.facebook.com/urvashi.agarwal.9465 Urvashi Agarwal

    What lovely scenery shots my friend :D

    Cheers
    CCU
    http://gobakeyourself.wordpress.com/

  • a farmer in the dell

    Thanks for the shout out darling!!!

  • http://bite-sized-thoughts.blogspot.com/ Kari

    What a beautiful post, and thank you for sharing those moments and photos :)

  • yummychunklet

    Great photo!

  • meri

    lately I’ve been stopping to appreciate the amaryllis plant my parents bought me for my birthday as it has been blooming very abundantly! its so pretty in the middle of winter to have some life and color!

  • Jolene (www.everydayfoodie.ca)

    What a gorgeous place! That street is just beautiful!

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