The sun was warm on my skin, the air smelled like honeysuckle, and Denali was pressed up against my leg chewing on a stick she found. Sitting on the damp grass in the backyard of my childhood home, I realized that I could not remember the last time I simply sat in stillness – without distraction, without worrying about where I had to be, and without thinking about something I should be doing instead. If I was back in New Jersey just a couple weeks earlier, I might have been peeking at my phone while scratching behind Denali’s ear – missing the chance to sit in peace and soak up the sunshine, the fresh air, and the […]