Recently we took our annual pilgrimage to the mountains. Given the speed of life in the northeast, we find that this time each year we have a serious need to retreat from the everyday world and get out to the mountains for some time for not only physical, but spiritual renewal. We often talk about going somewhere different, but when it comes down to it our hearts always lead the rest of us out to the mountains.
Living in Colorado was different than visiting there. This is probably the same thing everyone feels when taking a vacation. Going away from your every day removes you from the stresses of daily life, and from the reminders of commitments and responsibilities that are part of that life. Not having the distractions of traffic jams, household chores, finances, family (kids or cats) and work, frees up not only huge blocks of time, but it also frees up huge amounts of energy that can then be expended on things that are equally or more important, but not as urgent. Separating from the mundane world is something that I often forget that I need to do, but when it happens, I become a happier, healthier and I hope a better person.
What’s Zen got to do with it? Below are a few things, not in any order, of some of the best ways this kind of vacation touches my sense of Zen. So here is "What I learned on my fall Vacation."
You can get up when you feel like it and see things you otherwise would have missed.
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| You realize that you are a part of something much greater than yourself. |
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| Your adventure happens one step at a time |
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| The mundane world loses substance. |
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| "Silence is an essential condition of happiness." Heinreich Heine |
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| Weeds are flowers when you get to know them. |
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| There is beauty and satisfaction in simple living. |
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| The glow of the experience sustains you. |
I wish for you whatever in a vacation sustains your soul and makes your heart glow.
