A.S. Thorne

This week, I’m officially on vacation.
I mean staycation when I say “vacation.” It’s that sacred time where you tell everyone you’re off work. Yet, you still find yourself mentally checking your inbox just in case.

No beaches. No plane tickets. No five-day itinerary packed with activities that somehow feel like more work than work. Just me, my dogs, my coffee, and the bold ambition of catching up on rest.

I told myself I’d use this time to do a few things:

• sleep until my body says “okay, that’s enough,”
• write a little,
• study a bit,
• maybe catch up on that show I’ve been watching for a month.
• and yes, eventually, tackle the never-ending adult chores waiting patiently for their turn.

But mostly? I just need silence.
No alarms. No meetings. No back-to-back calls or crisis notifications popping up at the worst possible times. I’m technically “available” for emergencies—but unless something’s on fire, I’m practicing the fine art of not responding immediately.

The truth is, I’ve been running on autopilot for too long. I forget what silence sounds like, what it feels like to just sit still without performing or fixing or planning. My brain doesn’t even know what to do with downtime anymore. The first day off, I slept in and stayed in my pajamas all day. “Is this what peace feels like?”

But that’s the point of this week—to remember how to be again. To rest without guilt. To let the dogs nap beside me while I sip coffee that isn’t getting watered down and forgotten between calls. To read, write, and exist without a sense of urgency attached to it.

Eventually, sure, I’ll get to the laundry, the cleaning, and the other things that adulthood demands. But for now? I’m embracing the stillness. I’m choosing sleep, slow mornings, and the kind of quiet that heals in ways busyness never can.

So if you need me, I’ll be right here—half-buried under a blanket. I will be surrounded by dogs. I’ll be pretending I don’t hear the sound of responsibility calling from the other room.

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Before you go…

You don’t have to leave town to rest.
Sometimes the best kind of vacation is one where you stay exactly where you are. You just become less available and less rushed. This makes you feel a little more human. So if you’ve been running on empty, consider this your permission slip to pause, even for a day.

🖤 A.S. Thorne 🖤