Freizeit ( free time )

Vacation - n.  an intermission of activity, employment, or stated exercises, as for recreation or rest; a holiday.

Watercolor sketchbook page                                          Aug 2011 ~  eakf   

     Some thoughts on the value of spending time "unplugged". ~
By vacating "the routine" and for a time not answering to a schedule, the calender, the clock .... and having little to no connection to phone, computor, or TV, can be rehabilitating for mind, body, & spirit. It becomes a refreshing time for renewal & discovery (maybe even some re-definition too).
     At first it is a bit disorienting (kind of a withdrawal) because we are often so much more pressed into the places of our routines than we realize. But then, there is this wonderful release ( eine fliegen frei ~ a free flight ) from pressure -- like a lifting from heavy weights and growing wings at the same time.
       I spent such time this August while on vacation on Florida's East Coast. Leisure reading, sketchbooking (above page example), beach walking, along with some fine dinning marked the time. We also enjoyed 4 days of family time when our sons joined us , and tho the pace picked up - we  stayed "unplugged"with our activities.
      I am once again back into routines, work schedules, etc., but find myself able to tap into the insights gained during that centering experience to maintain some balance. Mainly, it is about releasing the inconsequential while keeping the important  as you walk through each day. So, if an opportunity opens for you to "be unplugged" for a time ~ give yourself that gift.

 "Rest is not idleness and to lie sometimes on the grass
 on a Summer Day listening to the murmur of water,
 or watching the clouds float across the sky, 
is hardly a waste of time"       ~ John Lubbock

Today is the Fall Equinox ~ a change of season ~ Happy Autumn !!!