I'm on break from work and the home life that's begun to feel a lot like work since my mom had a series of strokes and moved up here. One week off. One week to unplug.
It's absolutely glorious here. And also it's not enough. I need more of this.
I need more of this but I can't have more vacation. Not right now. Running away from home is expensive. Not working is expensive. Also, I love my job.
I need more of something that feels like this.
Space. Certainly that's part of it. I read 57 pages from a book yesterday and another 30 today in the car — We Were Witches by Ariel Gore. The pages turn themselves. More space to read is a must.
Adventure. We hiked and biked and hiked some more. Holy cow — what happened to my breath? The asthma seems worse than when we hiked last fall. I'll need to follow up on that because hiking life requires breath.
Laughter. We laughed until 1am the first night, just me and The Beautiful One cackling in the dark. There's some laughter at home but I need more.
Nature. I know about this one already. I stalk my wildflower garden every day. It helps, but I need more time out there. The weeds have won the battle for the front yard but I want back in the game. I miss digging in the dirt.
Idle. Or whatever you call the opposite of productivity. I need to spend part of every day actively not working. Not just those last moments before I fall into sleep, but when the sun is up too.
Maybe there's more, but this is a start. Space, adventure, laughter, nature, idle — this is what I need to weave into my daily life, into normal weeks. I need to unplug, even just a little. I can't leave it to one week a year to rescue me from self-destruction the rest of the time.
What about you? What are you missing? What would the break you need actually give you — and can you give yourself any of it before the break gets here?
