Breathe

Deep inhale. Hold it. Deep exhale. Relax. Breathe in. Breathe out. And so the 'holiday' begins.

I am not quite sure what the fuss is all about with this 'holidaying' thing that seems to have swept the nation. It doesn't seem to matter who you talk to - rich or poor; young or old; families or singles. Everyone wants to go somewhere.

I don't get it. Why do you have to go away to consider it a holiday?

The definition of holiday to me is: Doing whatever it is that you cannot normally do within your day-to-day life.

To me, this means (in my quiet little sheltered corner of the world):

• Quiet. Simply ... quiet (hush, you are thinking too loud!)
• Follow wherever the tide takes you ... no set design or structure to the day. Just go with the flow
• Turning off whatever you need to turn off (cell phones, computer, the TV, your brain, housework, errands - anything that normally drives your day and your life - just turn it off
• Shred the to-do-lists; leave the house without running an errand; quit racing against the clock!
• Feed a passion - sing, dance, write, create, think, walk, run ... whatever it is that makes you come alive. Just do it!
• Nourish yourself - the more content I am, the less I eat. I don't crave sugar, salt or fatty food when I have fed my passions and turned off the clock. The less junk food I eat, the more I crave real, solid sustenance. The more 'real' food I eat, the better I feel. It is a win-win situation.
• Keep it light. Find something that tickles your funny bone and laugh out loud. By yourself. There is nothing better than finding something so funny that you are laughing out loud in a room, all by yourself.
• Season lightly with family, friends and people who bring you up. Once you are full, you have more to give to the world. Try not to overdo it, but if you have a family reunion (for example) to attend try to go into it feeling full and fulfilled.

I can do all of the above, simply by staying home and announcing to 'my world' that I am vacationing quietly in the oasis right here within my own home. 

I have just savored four days of quiet and going-with-the-flow. I filled myself up and I could tell that I was overflowing because I was also feeling the need to 'reach out and touch someone'. I welcomed those who tread lightly and dared to enter (people know me too well, and when they see me enter my 'cocoon' stage they tend to respect that time that I need to find my 'inner butterfly'). 

I think I'm ready to go spread my wings and fly now. It is time to leave my quiet little cocoon and do hard things. I must go and do the whole 'holiday thing' that everyone is talking about. It will be good. I know it will. 

I am simply grateful for two things:

1. I am going into this next phase on 'full'
2. I get to come back home when all of this is over

It is not the vacation most people dream about but for me, it is the dream vacation. Turning off life-as-I-know-it and inhaling the days.

It is a vacation that fits most budgets. Try it. You just may like it. I did! For me, this is enough.

“There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.” 

~ G.K. Chesterton