That Pesky Inner Life

A friend posted this status on facebook a while back: I am standing behind a man who is getting on the plane with nothing in his hands. I, on the other hand, look like a Sherpa. My bag contains my purse, my needlepoint, my Kindle, my reading material for the times I must turn off electronics, my headphones and a little snack. This guy must have more interesting inner life than I do.

True right? That is so me, but it does make me wonder what is going on in my inner life? I can tell you that not enough is going on in mine these days. Other than (not) eating much and exercising I have been fairly consumed with childcare. It's a phase. I know, but when I saw the article Me Time: 10 Ways to Treat Yourself and Boost Your Mood by Marissa Capdanno I knew I not only had to read it, but share it with you as well. Here is what she recommends:

• do little things that make you happy
• treat yourself to a massage ask husband to give you massage
• make it a movie night
• enjoy the smell of citrus
• get your creative juices flowing
• get a quick shot of adrenaline
• play chef 
• spend time outside spend some time in Starbucks looking out the window
• give yourself a mani-pedi give yourself a shower in the bathroom alone
• send yourself flowers spend some time reading the Bible

After a little creative editing, I actually felt much more accomplished. I do little things to make me happy, like get a Diet Coke at the McDonalds drive-thru. I ask hubby for massages as often as I can get away with it. We fire up Netflix and declare many evenings "movie nights" after all the munchkins are sleeping. This blog is where I get my creative juices flowing and you all know the treadmill is where I head these days for my adrenaline. I play chef all the time and log my best recipes for you guys to enjoy too. However... I don't spend nearly enough time smelling citrus, at Starbucks, alone in the bathroom or reading my Bible. The last is particularly unfortunate because it is so vital to my inner life (while the first is a bit strange but I'll just go with it).

So I have to ask, is Capdanno right about all these things we should be doing for our self to boost our moods or should our inner life be so rich and satisfying that we could board an international flight without a carry-on? Wow, the latter would be awesome but I am so not there yet. What do you all do to nourish your inner life?