On balancing ‘just being’ and ‘being productive’

You unknowingly put expectations on yourself as far as productivity. I come from a long line of achievers. Both my parents are Protestant work ethic, farming people and I often feel they have more productive lives than me in many ways. It was a bit of a leap to disengage in a way and not put a lot of things in my calendar, but once you slow down a lot, you see more clearly. It was a luxury in a way, in this day and age, to have so much time to myself and just be: surrounded by forests, creeks and lots of wildlife, and slow down into a more subdued pace.—