Just Leave, Would You?!

Va-cate:  Leave (a place that one previously occupied); “rooms must be vacated by noon”. Give up (a position or employment).  Render void, to surrender possession or occupancy.  Synonyms: leave, quit, evacuate, empty, abandon, clear, void. 

Yes.  All of those.  I am on vacation right now and I left: my home, my community, my church, my responsibilities.  I gave up my position of employment: others are filling in, responsibilities have been shifted, the work will still be done, but not by me.  And I certainly have rendered myself void and surrendered possession of all kinds of garb that really had to go: baggage, hurts, guilt, exhaustion, excessive multitasking, and more.  Isn’t that what vacations are all about? 

It’s easy to get caught up in the “where are we going”, “how will we get there”, and “who will we see when we get there” stuff and miss the real point of a vacation.  Sure, we often go somewhere when we “leave” the place we typically occupy and we have to get there through some means of transportation, and often we do look forward to spending time with others we just don’t have time to when we are going full speed ahead.  But I have been on those vacations where I needed a vacation from the vacation when I got home from the first vacation!  I know you know what I’m talking about.  We pack so much into a mere three day weekend or week off that we are downright exhausted when we return home and are not sure we have anything left in us to return to our normal pace of work/family/responsibility. 

I’m not pointing fingers here… okay, I am pointing fingers, but I think the tourism industry and Chamber of Commerce are behind this lunacy.  And add to that the home improvement centers and hardware stores.  I mean, I say the word “vacation” and my hubby has a list started on the fridge of things he’d like me to get done before I return to my hectic I’ll-see-you-next-quarter lifestyle.  This week the list includes scrubbing walls so they can be prepped, prepping walls so they can be primed, priming walls so they can be painted, and then painting walls so they can be… well, painted!  Oh, that’s both upstairs and downstairs please.  The tools and supplies are all at here for you.  [big smile followed by big hug] … sigh… I need a vacation.  I know, I know, “You just got back from a week of Sabbath!” Right.  So I have to go back to work now??

I will admit though, the baggage falls off my back with each push of the scraper.  And all the hurts?  They begin to mend as I start applying the drywall mud.  And the guilt?  You know the “I wish I could do more to help more people and get more accomplished” guilt thing?  Not here. If the day whittles away with several walks out to the gardens or the kittens jump on my lap one more time to lick me clean or nibble on my shirt, there’s no guilt here.  I might get the painting done.  More than likely I won’t.  But I’ll get more done than I could if I wasn’t on vacation!  And the exhaustion?  Yes, that is gone too.  I notice myself walking slower, eating slower, and even thinking and talking slower. No exhaustion for this girl. And last but not least, that pesky old multitasking monger that rides my back like a freaked out monkey on steroids?  He’s on vacation too.  Been napping for a couple days now.  I think he was just as exhausted holding on as I was carrying him. 

Have you noticed the beautiful print on the wings of a butterfly and the elegance in their flapping?  Yah, me neither.  Not in a while anyway.  But I did today.  And will again tomorrow.  I hope you get a chance to vacate before summer is over.  Don’t worry. It doesn’t cost a thing… just your pride.  Your work, community, even your family, can live without you in the driver’s seat a few days… if you let them.