As Danielle mentioned, our holiday vacation wasn't long enough. This week, I went back to both work and school...and it was a painful transition after 12 days off. At the office everyone asks "How was your vacation?" and more than usual I found myself replying simply, "Relaxing." So I took a few minutes to reflect on all the things I enjoyed during my break from work and school. These are the things I missed when I was busy being caught up in the daily grind.
I find I rarely appreciate the simple things in life and one of those vacations where you just stay at home is a good chance to do that.
Blogging - Ok, I didn't blog a lot over the holidays but I did blog more than I had been. I realized how much I missed this. It's a good outlet. It gives me a chance to think and then share those thoughts in a semi-cohesive way. (This is debatable.)
Reading - I caught up on a bunch of reading over the holidays. As most of you know, I don't read a ton of books and when I do, they are of the self-help variety like "Your Money or Your Life." But I did start a book my brother gave me for Christmas and I caught up on a ton of magazines and blogs that I'd been neglecting. This felt great. I learned a lot, and it was relaxing to sit until 11 o'clock in the morning with a cup of coffee and a stack of magazines.
Watching movies - Danielle and I also caught up on some movies over our vacation. Since we don't have TV, it's nice to be able to sit down for an evening of entertainment. And it gives me a chance to play with the home theater system (which by the way I modified to stream iTunes music to and control it via iPhone using the Apple Remote app. This is awesome!)
Going for walks - I've mentioned before how refreshing going for a walk can be and I walked a bunch over the holidays. It made me realize (once again) how much I like being close to our downtown and having everything I need within walking distance.
Taking it all in - I didn't have a very good title for this and didn't know how to describe it. Maybe it's "being in the moment" or "being present". Whatever it is, I like it. Over the vacation I spent time taking in my environment -- sort of like people watching I guess. I found I was appreciating the little things that I normally take for granted. Like, I'd walk downtown past buildings I go past everyday but over the holidays I actually looked at the buildings and noticed things about them I hadn't noticed before, like the architecture or windows or design. I also noticed people more. How strangers were dressed, how they acted, how they interacted with others. I guess I was in observation mode since I was so much more relaxed and not letting my environment be a blur around me while rushing to do the next thing,
Making dinner - Neither Danielle nor I are gourmet chefs but we're learning to love cooking. Usually we just don't have time to plan and prepare a proper meal. But over the holidays we made a few. I'd even go so far as to say it was fun. This is something I should make more time for in my normal routine. All it seems to take is a little planning ahead to make sure you've got the right ingredients. But with Safeway just two blocks away and open 24 hours, I can use their store like my personal pantry.
Seeing friends - I enjoyed meeting up with a bunch of old friends over the holidays. However, it also made me feel sad because I've done such a terrible job keeping in touch with people. Many of us are guilty of this, we just get so busy with life that we neglect to keep in touch with those that matter. I hope I'll be better about this in 2009. Sometimes it means just giving someone a call; you don't always have to cram time to "hang out" into your already busy life.
Not feeling rushed - This was probably the biggest thing for me and it ties back to the "taking it all in" mentioned above. It felt great not to be rushed for once. I spend so much of my life hurrying to get one thing done so that I can move on to the next. And it bothers me that I do this both at work and at home. This is probably because I have too much to do, not enough time, or both. But over the holidays I had plenty of time. I could take things slow and I never felt the need to hurry through something just so I could move on. This allowed me to enjoy being in the moment more and to experience more since my attention wasn't divided. I need to do this more often even if it means saying no to some stuff so that I don't over-commit myself or spreading projects out over longer periods so that I can tackle them at a more relaxed pace. Or maybe it just means trying to do less and not letting others dictate my priorities or time.
Anyway, that's what I learned over the holidays. I hope others enjoyed their vacations as much as I did.
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