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鈥檚 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:

鈥淎nd there鈥檚 nothing like
Losing track of time who鈥檚 countin鈥
Winding around are we up are we down the mountain鈥

She continues鈥

鈥淓veryone鈥檚 wondered where I鈥檝e gone
Having too much fun doing nothing doing nothing busy doing
Doing nothing
Chasing the sun
Chasing the sun for you鈥

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.