Well, summer is here and with it comes my usual desire to take a big breath. Particularly this year I’m feeling the need for some mental space. Over the past 6 months, we have all been working so hard amid a seemingly endless onslaught of challenging news and developments. And it doesn’t look like its going to slow down any time soon. I’m exhausted, and I imagine you are too.
So here is my plan for this summer. I am going to take a deep breath, gain some perspective, and recharge. And here’s how.
First, and most importantly, I’m taking some time off. And I mean really off. I’m taking two weeks away from the blog, social media, email, work. I plan to linger over my coffee in the morning while just thinking (not doing) for hours.
I’m going to travel. I don’t know about you, but for me, there is no better way to make my crazy world seem not so crazy than by completely changing my perspective. I want to see how others pass their days, how the sunlight looks in a new location, what makes other people laugh, how different geographies eat and drink.
I’m going to laugh. And the easiest way to make that happen is to spend more time with my teenage boys. They have such a (to me) unique perspective and are constantly making me see the humor in the world. They also have seemingly limitless optimism. Perhaps their limited years of experience give them hope for the future. And now more than ever, I need their youthful enthusiasm.
I’m going to read beyond my normal interests. I need a break from always learning about new social change approaches, and plan instead to dig into art, biography, beach fiction. I am desperate for new and different perspectives.
I’m going to explore history. I have always loved learning more about the past, but now more than ever, I find it very soothing. As a human race we have faced seemingly intractable problems before and somehow we have always found a way to muddle through. We are incredibly resilient, and the struggles we have faced and overcome are an unending source of inspiration to me. So I plan to visit museums, read histories, and watch documentaries that take me to another time and help me understand that this too shall pass.
I hope that you, too, find some space this summer. Please, please, please, don’t be like the more than half of American workers who don’t use their vacation. Life is too short and too hard to spend it always working.
I’ll see you soon!
Photo Credit: Jsarasota
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