I have another confession. Sometimes I don’t want a vacation. I don’t want a weekend away. I don’t even want a day off. I just want to sleep. For about…

…1,000 years.

Now, before anyone gets concerned, no, I don’t mean that in a dark or hopeless way. I simply mean…

I’m tired.

Bone tired.

Mind tired.

Heart tired.

Maybe even soul tired.

And no amount of sleep ever seems to fix it. I’ve tried. Believe me. I’ve taken the supplements. I’ve taken the B12. I’ve consumed enough caffeine to keep a small village awake. Oh, Nitro Cold Brew… You magnificent little cup of temporary hope. You wake up my eyeballs.

Unfortunately, the rest of me didn’t get the memo. Which makes me wonder… Maybe Sleeping Beauty had the right idea. Minus the whole “prick your finger on a cursed spindle” situation. I could probably skip that part. But the sleeping? Sign me up. Imagine waking up centuries later. No emails. No laundry. No dishes waiting in the sink.

Actually… knowing my luck, the laundry would somehow still be there. Laundry is eternal.

But lately I’ve started wondering if maybe the problem isn’t that my body needs rest. Maybe my soul does. Can a soul get tired? I don’t know. It certainly feels like it can. It’s the kind of exhaustion that sleep doesn’t touch. The kind that lingers after a full night’s rest. The kind where your body gets up in the morning, but the rest of you is still lying under the covers wondering if today could maybe wait until tomorrow.

So naturally… I asked Google. I’ve been asking Google a lot of life’s big questions lately. My search history probably makes me look like someone having a philosophical identity crisis.

“What is a midlife crisis?”

“What is an isekai?”

“How to recharge your soul?”

Honestly, I hope whoever reviews search trends is rooting for me. Google, in all its infinite wisdom, suggested a few ideas.

Meditation. Mindfulness. Gratitude. Creative hobbies. Prayer. Reading Scripture. Spending time in nature.

Apparently there’s even something called “forest bathing”. Which, disappointingly, does not involve bubbles, shampoo, or tiny woodland animals politely handing you a towel. Instead, it’s simply the practice of immersing yourself in nature.

Walking. Listening. Breathing. Being still. No destination. No checklist. Just existing among the trees.

Honestly… That sounds kind of wonderful. Maybe trees know something we’ve forgotten. They don’t rush. They don’t apologize for resting during winter. They don’t compare themselves to the tree beside them. They simply stand.

Season after season.

Growing in ways no one notices until years have passed. Maybe people are a little like that too. We’re constantly measuring ourselves by productivity. By how much we accomplished today. How many boxes we checked. How many emails we answered. How useful we were. Somewhere along the way, rest started feeling like something we had to earn.

As if existing wasn’t reason enough to deserve it. Maybe that’s why we’re all so tired. Not because we’re lazy. Because we’ve convinced ourselves that slowing down is failure. But maybe rest isn’t quitting. Maybe it’s maintenance. Even machines need to recharge. Phones need charging. Cars need fuel. Plants need water. Why do we expect ourselves to run endlessly without ever plugging back in?

Maybe recharging your soul doesn’t happen all at once.

Maybe it’s found in tiny moments.

A walk beneath the trees.

A quiet cup of coffee before the house wakes up.

Writing words no one else may ever read.

Laughing with someone you love.

Watching the sunset instead of your notifications.

Reading a Psalm when your heart feels heavier than your body.

Saying a prayer that contains more sighs than sentences.

Maybe it’s all of those things.

Or maybe it’s something completely different.

I don’t think Google can answer that part for us.

Only we can.

So…

If anyone needs me… I’ll be attempting this whole forest bathing thing. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. But if wandering through the woods helps recharge a tired soul…

Its worth a try.

And if you happen to see a woman hugging a tree while carrying an iced coffee…

Mind your business.

I’m healing.

-Bella Imperia

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