The Joy of Having No Plans

If you asked my friends and family to describe me, I can guarantee that spontaneous would not be a word they would use. I am the polar opposite of a spontaneous, care free person. I love planning things. I plan things months in advance (seriously no free weekends between now and November, not even kidding) and if I ever lost my diary I would also lose my sanity. I like to know what I'm doing when, I love counting down to things and I really like spreadsheets.

But last weekend I rediscovered the joy of having no plans. I was supposed to be hanging out with one of my friends but she was poorly, so at the last minute Sam and I were left with a totally free weekend for the first time this year. A whole weekend off together without a single plan. And it was amazing.

We cooked dinner together and watched Netflix and drank G&Ts on the sofa. We sunbathed in the park and read books and hung out in one of our favourite villages. We blitzed our house and went out for lunch and caught up properly. We played things by ear and did what we felt like doing rather than what we'd planned to do and it was lovely. It was just what we needed.

The weekend was filled with loads of perfect little moments. And it got me thinking about what we might be missing out on by having everything planned out so far in advance all the time. Sure, it's fun to have exciting things to look forward to and countdown to, but does it mean that we forget to appreciate the joy in the everyday stuff? I'll admit that sometimes I'm so focussed on the future that I forget to just make the most of the day.

But this weekend taught me that while it's really fun to go on holiday and explore new places and hang out with friends, sometimes the loveliest moments are the quiet, chilled out, comfortable ones. Sometimes just pottering around at home can bring as much joy as stepping off a plane in an exotic destination. I need to remember that whenever my planning demon takes over and convinces me to fill up another weekend.

I feel like the rise of social media and curated grids means that we all want the gorgeous photos and glamourous check ins to prove what exciting lives we lead. But really, deep down, I think we can all admit that some quiet time with our favourite people is way better for the soul than anything else.