We get tired and we get stressed.

We get sick and run down and hopeless.

We get caught up in bills and chores and getting the kids to school on time and desperately trying to get a decent amount of sleep at night.

We get lost in structure and to-do lists and whatever time the clock on the wall says it is.

We get so carried away with what the world wants from us that we forget what the universe wants from us.

The universe wants us to relax.

The universe wants us to smile.

The universe wants us to laugh and play and stare up at the stars and forget what time it is.

Can we all make a pact with ourselves, with our friends and family, with our online community to stop rushing and stop looking at our phones?

Can we all make a pact to slow down, to laugh at ourselves and the rushing world around us?

Can we all just gaze up at the sky and remember how vast the universe is and how incredible it is that we are somehow infinitely connected to the stars?

Can we all just let that sink in and wonder at the messy perfection of it all?

One day, we will blink and our lives will be over. Wouldn’t you rather say you spent that short, precious time laughing and dancing?

Wouldn’t you rather say you spent it being impulsive and in love and free?

Just for today, don’t look at a clock. Get rid of your to do list and write another one.

Write one that goes like this:

>> Wake up.
>> Get outside.
>> Run until you can hardly breathe.
>> Laugh until your face hurts.
>> Wonder at the magic of the universe.
>> Dream, but never go back to sleep.

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Apprentice Editor: Karissa Kneeland / Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Norma Desmond/flickr