Tag: vacations

Friday Vacation Spot

“We are all here on this planet, as tourists, as it were. None of us can live here forever. The longest we might live is a hundred years. So while we are here we should try to have a good heart and to make something positive and useful of our lives.” – The Dalai Lama tweeted this, this morning

I love this thought that we are “tourists” here, experiencing a short lifetime. When we go touring to places other than where we live, we are usually excited, happy, curious and respectful. We are utterly captivated: trying new activities, and learning about different things than we are used to experiencing. Other than a few jerks, when touring, most of us are open-minded, reverential to others’ sacred things and places, and cognizant that we are a representation of where we are from, and so we behave accordingly.

Fridays are a particularly easy day to be in “tourist mode”, right? If there was ever a day that matched the giddiness of heading out on vacation, it would be Friday. As my regular readers know, Friday is my favorite day of the week. On Fridays, I discuss my favorites: songs, websites, books, products, foodstuff, etc. Today’s favorite works right along with my travel/tourist theme. Last week, my husband and I went to an “indie flea”. (They had me at “indie.”) An indie flea, is a flea market for artsy types. There was eye candy everywhere – the artful products, the interesting vintage finds, the gorgeous, fashionable people. Anyway, at the indie flea, I purchased a teeny, tiny adorable, colorful pair of scissors, which is my favorite for today. The seller told me that they are TSA approved (meaning that I don’t have to dig them out of my purse before travelling, in fear of them being confiscated). There are so many times when travelling that I have wished that I had a pair of scissors with me. Now I do. And you can, too! Just go to Amazon or Etsy and look up TSA approved scissors. You will be shocked at all of the options!

No matter where you are this weekend, even if it is just at home, remind yourself that you are tourist. Behave as if you were visiting a beautiful, intoxicating, ever-unfolding, foreign land full of amazing things to see and to explore. Believe that you are taking the trip of a lifetime that you have been anticipating taking, for a long, long time. And realize that all trips come to an end, so take full advantage of the experience while you are having it. Bon Voyage!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

I Miss You

Hello my dear friends and readers! I miss you. I am in one of the most beautiful, peaceful places which I have ever been on this Earth. Particularly on this trip, I have come to realize that there is a lot of “stuff” in my life that I do not need, nor do I miss, but writing my blog and communing with my readers, definitely goes on to the column of things which I miss a lot about my daily routine at home. You, my treasured friends and readers, and my writing of Adulting – Second Half on a daily basis, are right up there, (along with our three precious fur babies), on the list of Things That I Most Miss About Home. I also forgot to bring perfume on this trip and I LOVE perfume. And I am currently writing this after a full day of hiking and touring and swimming and riding for hours in a stuffy van, and so honestly, right now, my perfume is number one on the list of Things That I Most Miss About Home. (Kidding!) You (and our puppies) are definitely what I miss the most, while I am away with my family on our vacation. But right now, perfume is a close, close second.

Despite reflecting on the fact, that there are so little material things that I really do need, to make me happy, and also, realizing that it is my life’s adventures, and the memories that come with these adventures which are truly my most cherished possessions, I still can’t help myself. I buy schlock. Above is one of the pieces of schlock that I just had to have as a souvenir from my current trip, because to me it represents our family – me and the five people whom I love more than life itself. I bought this trinket because it represents yet another amazing family adventure to me, and it will serve as a reminder of our shared laughs and our shared wonders and shared joys and even our shared sorrows. Mostly, it reminds me of our shared deep, unrelenting care and love. In short, this goofy souvenir makes my heart smile, and it will for years to come.

We have probably 1000s of pictures from this trip, we have shared family stories that come from this trip which will undoubtedly last in our family lore for years to come, but this silly little kitschy dust collector, will represent all of that for me, in just one glance. I must remember this the next time I rummage through an antique store, or an estate sale. A lot of the things that we have in our lives mean so much more than the inexpensive materials that make them, or their relatively insignificance in the way of daily practical usage. Symbols and signs represent the meaning which we find in life, in simple and yet in profound ways. Religious and spiritual places are full of symbols and signs. Is it possible that my silly, googly-eyed souvenir is sacred? It is to me.

Some day, perhaps when I am long gone, someone will pick up this funny little figurine and pitch it into the garbage or they will sell it for a dollar in a garage sale, and they won’t realize it’s true significance. They won’t realize all of the love and wonder and happiness and peacefulness that it holds. They won’t hear the heart beating in it. And that’s okay. It will transform into a new form of the energy that it forever holds. The souvenir’s form never really mattered anyway. The love and the memories that it represents will never, ever go away. And that’s what makes this little rock family, one of the most beautiful things that I have ever owned.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Rest Rest Rest

“Burnout exits because we’ve made rest a reward rather than a right.” – The Last Mindbender

My friend sent this quote to our group chat. It was in response to another friend who has a high-powered job, on top of raising three teenaged daughters. This particular friend was saying that she wasn’t able to unwind on their family’s spring break vacation until almost five days into the trip, and only two days before they were to head back home. Sadly, we all could relate. This inability to rest and to let go, was an experience which was familiar to all of us.

It has also always annoyed me, that we feel the need to tell ourselves, and to tell others, that we “deserve”, or we have “earned” our vacations or our spa treatments or our naps. Why is rest a guilty pleasure? Why must we wait until we are in a sick or weakened state to allow ourselves to experience solid rest? Rest is imperative. Rest is restorative. Rest is renewal.

I am writing this blog post late on Monday evening. I will be leaving at 5:30 in the morning, for an all-day tennis competition, just like I did yesterday. I am exhausted. I spent all day out in the scorching Florida sun, doing all sorts of activities to support my daughter and her teammates. It was a memorable, successful day. I enjoyed it so much, and yet, as I write this, I am bone-tired. I feel physically, and mentally, and even a little emotionally, completely and totally drained. Tonight’s sleep will be the kind of sleep that only can be enjoyed when you are all worn out and weary. Sleep is fully appreciated when your body is all but begging you to find your way to your bed, and to your accommodating and welcoming, soft pillow. When you are this tired, you don’t worry about if you deserve this rest, or even if you have “a right” to this rest, you just let your utter exhausted state subjugate you to slumber, without a fight. It feels so good to yield and to surrender to the deeply needed, slumbered state.

Quotes about Resting the body (44 quotes)

Are you passing on love, or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Home Sweet Home

I think one of the most fantastic things about travelling, is coming home with a new appreciation and new eyes on how good home is, and how good home feels. And I had an absolutely wonderful time in the mountains. My time in the mountains cemented in me the feeling that I may even want to spend a good portion of my retirement years in the mountains. Still, as I sit in my comfortable writing nook, as the Florida sunshine gleams in from every window, trying to make its way into every corner of our house that it possibly can, I feel so good. I feel so grateful. I feel so refreshed.

When you come home from a trip, your own bed holds you in a comforting embrace like no other. Your familiar things pop out at you, like adoring fans, quietly shimmering and shaking their hands to get your attention. I think that you harmonize with your home in such a natural way that you don’t even realize it, until you take a little break from the synchronicity of it all. And then you come home, and you fit yourself into that little empty space of the puzzle, and all is well. Everything feels right. The picture is complete. The magnetic pull between you and all of your familiar things and sounds and scents and surroundings, keeps your own little private galaxy dazzling, and afloat. I realize that I have big love for home and I thank my intermittent trips for reminding me of that fact.

TOP 17 ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER QUOTES | A-Z Quotes