A Quiet Life

(***I recently had a conversation with someone who made

me feel dumb for not having any solid hobbies and for not being very adventurous.

I've been thinking about it a lot and this is the response I wish I had given her.

Sorry for this ramble-y and preachy post!***)

Zach and I have a quiet life. We like being at home, watching Netflix and playing video games together. We like sitting around discussing celebrity gossip and other things that don't matter. We like reading together--or rather, I like reading to him. We try to eat healthy while at home, but we don't worry about it when we eat out...and we eat out quite a bit. We have a few close friends whom we love, and we have families that are near and dear to our hearts. 

Everyday Zach wakes up early, exercises, showers, reads his scriptures, gives me a quick kiss, and is out the door for work. While I stay at home. I get a lot of questions about this, since we don't yet have any children and there's no "real" reason for me to be at home. So let me be straight up about it: I don't want to work. I don't enjoy working, as it gives me extreme anxiety. And I am blessed to be in a situation where I don't need to work. I love being at home and being a homemaker. I'm glad I have the ability to take care of our home everyday and to make it a place of peace and comfort for Zach when he comes home. So many years of my life will be spent working for others--namely our future children. So I guess I just wanted a few years to myself. To enjoy the time I have getting to know myself and to become who I want to be. 

So anyways, Zach and I have a quiet life. We don't go to lots of events around town. We're guilty of not going to a lot of ward parties. We haven't explored Austin very much since we moved here. We don't have lots of exciting trips and adventures planned in the near future. 

And that's okay.

I think a lot of the time we look at all of our friends and acquaintances on social media and we feel like we have to do all of these amazing things. We're told constantly by the internet to go outside, live your life, discover your next great adventure, go hiking, go swimming, go zip-lining, try out this restaurant, learn this new skill, make this DIY project, do all these things you supposedly "have" to do before you die. And so I have to ask:

Why?

Now don't get me wrong, all of those things are fun. And I think that once in a while, it is great to try something new. I don't want you to think Zach and I are bums who never do anything. We went to a concert a few months ago here in Austin and it was fun. SO much fun. I traveled to Europe a few years ago and had the adventure of a lifetime. Zach is super bubbly and makes friends super easily. He likes to go golfing with my dad and my brother whenever we go back to Houston. Just last week I tried out a new recipe from Pinterest and it was great! We go out on dates and we try new things. We step outside of our comfort zones.

It just doesn't happen very often. And that's okay.

Social media can make you feel like you have to do all this stuff all the time. It can make you feel bad for just sitting at home and watching a movie. For the fifth night in a row. It can make you feel like if you don't go out and seek adventures, you're not living your life. 

I want to tell everyone that if you are living a quiet life, you're still living your life.

You don't have to go out every night--or even every week. You don't have to have amazing and interesting hobbies. You don't have to go camping or fishing. You don't have to travel the world. You don't have to do that DIY project. You don't have to go to that sketchy hole-in-the-wall restaurant everyone says is amazing when all you want to do is go to Chick-fil-a. You don't have to have the most beautifully decorated home. 

Basically, you don't have to spend your time doing anything that doesn't bring you happiness and comfort. 

Everyone is different. Everyone has different tastes, different interests, different hobbies, different desires for their life. 

For me and Zach, we feel most comfortable and most happy doing the little things. Spending time with each other. Watching movies and TV shows. Eating. Playing video games. Chit-chatting about nothing. 

That is our happy place.

And that's okay. 

So if your happy place is out and about going on grand adventures through the mountains, camping out in the desert, traveling the world with only a backpack, taking pictures of other people, doing crafts, making cakes, reading books, or just sitting on the couch with some caramel popcorn and a cheesy romantic comedy, that's great! Good for you! 

Do what you love and don't let anyone make you feel like you're "boring," or "lazy," or "a drag" for not wanting to do what other people think you should do to live an "exciting" life. 

If you're happy living your life the way you want to live it, then don't ever let anyone make you feel like you need to change. 

You can live a quiet, content life if you want to. And that's okay.