Thursday, October 24, 2013

Breakaway!


"A vacation is what you take, when you no longer can take what you have been taking." 

- Earl Wilson.

We all know vacations are important and yet we skimp on them. The United States known for its hard and efficient work ethics is also known for high stress and a working culture that does not insist on taking time off.  For some, its a financial situation, for others its now a habit. There are many who don't know what to do with free time.  The concept of "doing nothing" is now obsolete. Remember this quote "If you can spend an afternoon doing nothing, you have learnt how to life." In today's times, this seems crazy. How can one not do anything? It's just one life, how can we let it go waste?  Every minute should count, right? 

Live your life to the fullest. I agree with that. But every minute should be spent doing something. I disagree there. Like most, I too am guilty of planning every minute of my day, trying to multi-task and do it all.  I too have forgotten how to slow down.  But I am re-learning. 

Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, CA

We took an impromptu weekend off to Lake Tahoe, CA to get away from the routine, much to the dismayed faces of our kids, who wanted to know why are we taking a short vacation? They didn't understand the need to drive 4 hours and just "hang out" as a family. As parents we did what we do best, ignored the whims and cries and took off and hung out is all we did on the first day off. We ate Pizza, and it was good, walked around Heavenly, ate ice-cream, shopped for trinkets and called it a day. On retiring, some of us watched a movie, the others read a book and we all slept in time too.  Sounds pretty boring for a vacation, I know, but the point was to "do nothing" so we don't have to keep track of the minutes.  Next day, we all woke up with renewed energy and decided to trek at Emerald Bay. 

I like the idea of painting this :) 

The reactions from my kids and I quote. My son " WOW, this is so scenic. Mom look at that water, its so blue, its so clear. Are u taking pictures?" My daughter, "This is Epic. Next time, can I bring my colors so I can paint everything I see." For us as parents, it was mission accomplished. 

Vacations are often considered a luxury. They were in the olden days, but with everything else this paradigm is also shifting. Today vacations are a necessity. We no longer have the luxury of coming home at 5.00pm and spending some quality time with family. Parents and kids alike have a year full of events planned and every minute is accounted for. We as the citizens of Earth have made ourselves so busy, that we no longer laze around, we no longer take an afternoon nap, we no longer do nothing, we no longer break way from the routine. 

What we do today is; go to work, go for a work out or find a way to just work it out. 

I love this picture. Emerald Bay, CA. 

Many of us don't realize this but there are countless studies on why taking a break is important and good both for the mind and body.  My reasons to just breakaway from routine are simple. First it gives me a chance to have a conversation with my family on topics other than work and school. Second, it allows me to show my kids a world without electronics. Yes, I know, I use the computer everyday and am pretty good at it, but I am also the kind who belongs to victorian times. I love my tea parties and the casual gossip that comes with it. So if there is an opportunity to put the electronics away, I grab it. Last and most important, with every vacation we as a family are learning to slowdown and take a moment to re-learn the art of talking and observing. We are not googling or tweeting, we are talking. 

We need  to  breakaway from the routine, breakaway from the grind, breakaway just because! 

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