In Minnesota, the lake is a way of life. And no, I’m not talking about a specific lake – remember, there are over 10,000 of them – but rather the lake, the unnamed, collective, omnipresent lake that all Minnesotans inherently seem to share.
Indeed, somehow up here in the bold north “the lake” is simultaneously a noun – a state of being; a place you belong, return to, and pine for – and a verb – the act of recovery, relaxation, and being one with nature. Here, the lake is a friend, an entity, and a universal truth. Here, the lake is not just something you do or somewhere you go, but it’s something you be.
Last weekend my parents visited us as the last stop on their tour de Minnesota vacation. They had spent the last several days on an adventure-packed trip driving from Chicago to Madeline Island to Voyagers National Park with a few stops in between, and they drove south to the Twin Cities to spend the weekend with us before making their way back home. As we always like to do when my parents are in town, we enjoyed time together chitchatting, playing games, visiting local shops, and eating yummy food. But we also did something we’ve never fully done before: We spent an entire day out on the lake.
From nine o’clock in the morning to six o’clock in the evening we enjoyed a day of kayaking, fishing, picnicking, and relaxing… And it was absolutely glorious.
As I shared in a recent post, “Do. Nothing,” sometimes the best things in life are the simplest, laziest, and most unscripted things of all. Not only is it fun to unplug and unwind, but it is vitally critical to our overall physical health and mental well-being. When we do nothing, we allow ourselves to slow down, catch our breath, and reset, and doing so at the lake only magnifies these effects even more. There is something healing and perhaps magical about being on the water: It returns us to our roots and restores our sense of equilibrium. Spending a day at the lake isn’t so much about forgoing all your cares and forgetting all your worries as it is reconnecting with something larger, more profound, and more magnificent than what the mundanity of everyday life could otherwise provide on its own. The lake greets you exactly where you are and knows exactly what you need, and if you embrace it, then you’ll ultimately find that the lake can give you the world.
So this week my post is short and your task – your call to action should you choose to take it – is simple: Go to the lake.
Whether you run, walk, fish, boat, or kayak, just go to the lake and spend some time reconnecting with everything you already are and whatever it is you hope to be. Escape to the water and let yourself go. Lose your inhibitions, free yourself from any unnecessary guilt and weighty responsibility, and allow yourself to indulge in the pure, natural goodness of watching the waves lap against the shore as the wind whispers in your ear and the sun bronzes your soul.
Go jump in the lake: Let yourself be free.
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