Taking a Breather

Last week, I was supposed to go away on holiday.  Instead, I stayed home and had a real vacation.

Old Friend, 2012, watercolour, 20 1/2″ x 14 1/2″, copyright Carol Hughes.

The week before, I was in a frenzy of trying to meet all my deadlines, wind things up, and gather information for my planned holiday.  It became clear that it wasn’t working, and that I was dreading, rather than anticipating, the trip.  So I cancelled it.

I spent the week thinking and relaxing.  I rented a couple of movies.  I cleaned out some files.  I let the muscles in my face and shoulders unclench.

I reread my collection of inspirational articles, and  thought about what I really wanted to do.

We live in a world of deadlines, with constant pressure to deliver stuff, to produce.  But we also live in a physical world of weather and seasons and growing cycles.  Some things need time to ripen and can’t be hurried.

I want to replace busyness with a sense of purpose in my life.  To do that, I have to let go of some of the things I have been doing to make room for focusing on the bigger picture.

I am resetting my course for the next leg of my journey.