Originally posted on Facebook HERE
This is my view today, as I start a three week vacation in the north woods basically right next to the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in WI. As I was preparing for this vacation, and explaining to people that – yes, it’s just me going on vacation. No, my wife will not be with me. No, I don’t have anything planned out at all… I got mixed reactions. Some people immediately said, “wow, that sounds like Heaven”… others?… comments like “how does your wife feel about that?” was a common one… well… at least in our relationship, we do things together but also leave space to go our own way at times. And, periodically – I feel the need to just get away. Maybe it’s “only child” syndrome, but – this isn’t the first time I’ve done this. It’s actually the third time I’ve done it. Taken three weeks to go off on my own. The last two were in 2018 and 2019 – when I wrote the books “Feed Your Angel” and “Everybody Dies”. I kind of had a “mission” on those trips, which maybe made them more understandable to outsiders. On this trip, I have things I’d like to get done (including getting three years of blogs ready for publication as well as writing music, videotaping and recording)… but I’m just letting the days come to me. Several things that will be included daily, though – writing, reading, meditation, yoga, running and playing music. Every day. I can tell you from my past experiences, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. I do a lot of those activities when I’m home as well. But – there’s almost always a “time frame” around them. Gotta do this in that slot – can only take this much time today – have to be somewhere else by this or that time, and so while meditation and yoga are staples for me, I only get a few days where I can do them in a fully relaxed state. The idea of meditating for an hour at home, for example – not gonna happen. But probably will happen when I’m here, and time frames all become somewhat relative. Everything will get done in due time, and I just follow my internal clock that will tell me – we should run now. Let’s do some yoga. Time to meditate, etc… When I woke up today, I knew I needed to set up the music gear and play right away. I came up with a song I’m pretty excited about that’ll be the first thing I’ll be working on while I’m here. And it was just so calm… not rushed, you know? Nowhere to be – nothing I “have” to do… I so seldom get that. So, yes – I go off on my own for three weeks at a time now and then. No, my wife doesn’t come with me. And I come back a better person for having done it, too – because within the moments we so seldom give ourselves – there is magic and connection to our spiritual selves unlike anything you can ever get when you’re in the middle of the daily grind. Very grateful to be able to do this at all, and to have a partner who understands why it’s better for both of us that I do as well. Working on ourselves is a good thing not only for us as individuals, but for our families, and for everyone we see on a daily basis. I highly recommend it, if it’s at all possible for you. And this morning, for the first time in a long time, I woke up (after a longer than usual sleep) and said to myself – “wow, I feel relaxed”… this is a good thing…
❤️
