Vacation at Home – Part 13

Authentic to You

Each of us possesses an exquisite, extraordinary gift:  the opportunity to give expression to Divinity on earth through our everyday lives.  – Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance

Reflecting on vacation at home has been a journey of self discovery.  It has introduced me to - - myself.  What do I do just for the sheer joy of it?  What am I doing when I find myself so engaged and absorbed that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else? Who am I with, friends or communities, when I experience my best self and I feel most generous?  When do I laugh and love and feel ripples of tender affection on my way home feeling warm and happy? What and who energizes me and gives me joy? 

What do I do on vacation, but never seem to have time for at home? I explore quirky neighborhoods, go on long walks and hikes, get dressed up and enjoy plays, music and art; go dancing, talk, laugh and eat good food; shop for gifts, smell lotions and candles, take bubble baths, get massages, read, (read, READ), collect cards, try on clothes and play with jewelry, hats and sunglasses, sip cappuccinos, eat baked goods and take in the street life writing postcards in cafes. These are simple activities that I can do anywhere.  It is just a matter of making time for them in my everyday life. 

Although these reflections have contained activities that give me great joy, they are also designed to spark your imagination.  I encourage you to create your own ideas that are authentic to you. Remember, it’s not only what you do, it’s how you do it.  It’s moving to your own rhythm, letting yourself be surprised, delighted at what you might discover next, maintaining a lighthearted attitude, staying curious, being fully present and engaged and most of all, refusing to rush. Life is not to be gobbled mindlessly, but savored and deeply appreciated. 

Could the kingdom of heaven be as simple as living an authentic life?

I’m hoping these reflections will inspire you to create the spirit of vacation for yourself. Think of these reflections as a cookbook of ideas for authentic pleasures; recipes for play, fun and joy. Discover what you naturally like to do, not because you should, but because you love it.  I invite you to romp through your own creative heart space, sparking ideas about how you might design a life full of vacations.  Bon voyage!

Vacation at Home – Part 12 

Freedom of Systems 2

Life is nothing more than a stream of experiences - - the more widely and deeply you swim in it, the richer your life will be.  --Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

 

I have also developed systems for entertainment and recreation, keeping lists and files of fun activities to enjoy near home.  I peruse the Chronicle (particularly Sunday’s Datebook and Thursday’s 96 Hours) and the East Bay Express, (the annual Best of the East Bay is fabulous), adding to my files of recommended restaurants, cafes, concerts, theaters, museums, and speaker series.   

I clip and save interesting urban walks (found in the venerable 96 Hours) and file away local hikes and swimming holes in the summer.  I keep files on nearby retreat centers, weekend haunts, bed and breakfasts and elegant urban hotels.  I collect information on belly dancing classes, yoga and meditation groups.  

I try to commit to experiencing one new thing a month, whether it be wandering through a new neighborhood, going on an unfamiliar hike, writing in a different café , trying a new ethnic food, experimenting with a new lipstick, learning something new in a book or magazine, or even driving a different way to work.  

I like having good books, magazines and interesting things to read in every room of the house and the trunk of the car. (You never know when you’ll have to wait in the doctor’s office and the smartphone only goes so far.)   

I manage the Netflix and streaming queues, so we have an assortment of dramas, comedies, educational series and rock and roll concerts.  I detest wandering around video stores searching desperately for something to rent and late fees give me hives.   

I make sure we always have something sweet, crunchy and fun to eat if people come to visit.  Freedom of Systems Part 1 ensures that our home is clean and uncluttered.
Link: http://reinventingkarla.blogspot.com/2013/05/vacationat-home-part-11-freedom-of.html

Systems eliminate the stress of the last minute.  They are the structures that make it possible to enjoy vacation at home on a daily basis. 

Here is a list of my thick manila folders stuffed with the following ideas; I encourage you to experiment with your own: 

·        Restaurants and Cafes

 

·        Hikes and Urban Walks

 

·        Theater and Movies

 

·        Music and Concerts

 

·        Books and City Lectures

 

·        Classes and Workshops  

I have similar files for weekends and vacations away:

 

·        Retreat Centers (including hot springs and monasteries)

 

·        Vacation Weekends (Tahoe, Mendocino, Yosemite, Pacific Grove, Big Sur; you will, of course, have your own)

 

·        Long Vacations (places I want to see someday . . .)

 

·        Paris (a burgeoning file devoted exclusively!) 

 

Have fun developing your own, dear reader! Yes, the Bay Area is an adult Disneyland, teeming with things to do, but it doesn’t matter where you live, Vacation at Home is an attitude, a state of mind and an approach to life that can be enjoyed anywhere.

 

Vacation Away

Boise, Idaho

The Pictures!

 Thank you to the good Jan Hunter who packed up the lost camera and sent it back to her home! Here are some of the pictures . . .

 

(from lft to rt)
 Sitting: Amanda, Adam, Kim, Jan
Standing: Jim and Cody 

Aren't these murals cool?

Kind of like Balmy Alley in SF

A Boy and His Dreams

Real Hunters - The Wild West



Walk by the River at the Hunter's

My Beautiful Sister, Kim

Cody and Adam - Success!

 

 

Vacation at Home

McLaren Park

Love our Lake (Merritt)

 

 

I saw it in the 96 Hours section of the Thursday Chronicle. Founded in 1934, it is the second largest park in San Francisco, (after Golden Gate Park), and I had never been there! I grabbed my soul sister, hiker/explorer, Ann Cromey, and away we went in search of adventure. 

The article detailed a 2.7 mile loop, coined Philosophers' Way, including “14 musing stations that invite hiker’s introspection, several benches overlooking a meadow and ocean view and a bowl made from stone that catches runoff from nearby hills.” We carefully tried to follow the directions in the article, but alas, we didn’t see any of the musing stations or any stone bowls catching any runoff. We did, however, see the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, a modern kind of weird structure, albeit kind of cool, mainly because of its name.

 

 

 

We found a perfect place for lunch in the sun and out of the wind and spread out the same lunches we have every time; Ann with her cheese and red pepper sandwich and carrot sticks; me with my half savory, half PB&J sandwich, fruit and pretzels.

 

 

 

She is a friend with a compassionate ear and much wisdom and I decided to chance the big question that comes to visit me every few years: 

Am I doing enough with my life? 

Am I using my gifts? Am I underemployed? Should I have a more challenging, higher paying, prestigious job? (We discarded that one pretty quickly.) Ok, then should I be trekking in Nepal? Maybe I should be parlaying my love for music and become a concert promoter or a chooser of songs for edgy TV programs? What is my big, overriding passion? Should I be turning this blog into a book somehow? Maybe I should be living in a bigger house in Montana? Am I missing out on anything I’m supposed to be doing? Oh, how this question eats at me relentlessly, this question of measuring up to God’s will for my life. 

Wait a minute! God wants me to be happy. These “bad thoughts” are not God’s thoughts. God doesn’t want me to feel restless, dissatisfied and discontent with myself. In fact, God would like for me to quit picking on myself! God created me! 

Ann was my angel that day in McLaren Park, high above the city, assuring me of the path I have chosen, decisions I have made and the ways I am already living out my gifts. Thank the good God for friends who love me and care about me. Friends with whom I can be real. How we need each other, we humans! 

Gratitude is my answer. And realizing that I have lots of passions, they’re just quieter; reading, reading, reading, writing, reading some more about mountain climbers, hiking, spirituality, studying human nature, music, hot spots, restaurants, gathering people and creating experiences.

Rob says it’s about doing what you believe to be quality regardless of what anyone else thinks and finding that part of yourself that creates that and trusting it.

So is staying adventurous and curious and going to places like McLaren Park and visiting our own Lake Merritt with friends and celebrating new pedestrian bridges and the Love our Lake festival, and duck life, (including the frazzle headed teenagers), and the gondolas and gazing at the haunted light of a Bay Area fog-rolling-in-cool summer evening and . . . staying on vacation at home - - forever.

http://oaklavia.org/

Don't You Love Her Smile?!?

 

Vacation Away

Boise, Idaho - The Miracle!

 

Despite recently turning 50, sister, Kim doesn’t look one day older than she did four years ago at Jen’s graduation but my nephew, Adam sure does! No longer a boy, he has blossomed into a mature young man. He has presence, no doubt about it. I can see why he is becoming a famous actor. His almond shaped green eyes penetrate to your core with deep understanding. He has a stillness about him that at times you feel accompanied by an old and wise spirit . . . then, suddenly, he is a 13 year old boy again, breaking into the enthusiasm and passion of a an excited teenager.

 

I just couldn’t believe his focus; his ability to stay on one thing until he fully understood it, until it became part of him. He has two passions; acting and home building. Well three passions, really - - counting America. He has made up his mind that he is going to college in America. No old world England and teapots for him! He likes the NEW, the untrammeled, the undiscovered, and the wide open skies of the Rocky Mountain west. 

He has carefully studied the best and biggest home-builders in Idaho, where he plans to attend university. We started at a development in the hills, high above the city and he patiently measured out the size of the lots with his feet, imagining where he would put the living room, bedroom and kitchen, the best place for the perfect view, and together we climbed those hills, until we got to the very top. That boy and his mother sure have imagination!  

(Alas, dear reader, I left my camera in Idaho, so no more pictures after this point. You will have to use your imagination, too!) 

Ok, here comes the miracle. Later in the afternoon, we stopped in a new neighborhood and looked through a model built by, Jim Hunter, owner of Boise Hunter Homes, the biggest custom home builder in Boise. Please understand that Adam had carefully studied all of these models on the internet half way across the world in England. He knew every model, every measurement, every material used in cabinets and closets; in short, every floor plan this man has built.  

We got to talking to the young man showing the model and it turns out that his name was Travis Hunter, son of the famous Jim! I opened it up, introducing everyone and Adam talked excitedly about all of the different models and measurements. After Travis found out that Adam even knew his dad’s name, he whipped out his phone, called his dad and the next scene found us in the nicest restaurant in Boise, The Cottonwood Grill, eating perfectly cooked halibut and Western USA beef with the famous builder, his wife, Jan and even his lovely daughter, Amanda. I will never forget, (and neither will Adam), the good Jim Hunter, head bent toward my excited nephew, patiently teaching and answering all of his questions about the land acquisition and home-building business in Boise, Idaho and beyond.  

The next stay found us with this wonderful family at the Boise Farmer’s Market, where the Hunters of course, knew everyone, and their beautiful daughter, Amanda, came along and even their other son, Cody. We ate crepes and sat around a fountain, talking and laughing and watching the Boiseans. We continued through the afternoon, driving through the dry, open landscape outside the city, touring all of the gorgeous custom homes this man has built and his wife, Jan, has designed. What a miracle team they are, creating homes where people can live, laugh and love! 

We finished the day at their lovely, so Western, 5,000 square foot home, built on a crystal blue lake with glorious views from every room. Jan, Kim and I took a walk in the woods near their house with the lake on one side and the river on the other, and the cottonwoods sprayed their lovely essence on our skin in the late afternoon. In the meantime, Jim and his son Cody were teaching Adam how to fish. He caught five! They had a really cute little dachshund, Mason, who kept running in circles, excitedly licking the flopping fish! (They threw them all back, assuring us that bass are tough.)

This incredible family totally adopted us for the weekend. Never will I forget their generosity! These people have full, busy lives, yet they took the time to give us a whole day and a half. I am inspired not only by their generosity but their spontaneity. I only hope that I would do that, be willing to drop the everyday appointments and errands to meet new people and show them my city. Talk about Vacation at Home! 

Who could have known that Jim Hunter and his magnificent Western architecture homes would so capture the heart of a thirteen year old boy living 30 miles outside of London that he would follow his passion all the way to Boise, Idaho so that we could all meet. When we are living our passion, we attract the people, events and places that we need to propel us forward. Thank you, Adam, for living your passion and bringing us together in this wonderful world God has created for us all.

 

 

Vacation Away

Boise, Idaho!

 

I arrived a day early before sister, Kim and nephew, Adam were to drive in from Salt Lake. They had recently flown in to Salt Lake from England, (yes, England!), because my nephew and professional actor, Adam, was playing 12 year old Jesus in a movie filmed every year by the Mormon church about the New Testament. As you can well imagine, I was over the top excited to see them! I had not seen my sister in over four years and hadn’t seen Adam since he was a young boy when I visited them in England almost eight years ago.

 

By now, dear reader, you know that I love wandering through a new city with complete, unfettered freedom, following my nose, letting myself be lured by what interests me, living completely, immediately in the very moment I find myself. I started at the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, which moved me to tears. There are curved walls with inspiring quotes and pictures describing the struggle for all kinds of human rights, Jewish, African American, Eastern European, and Native American; several cultures and people were represented on the Quote Wall. I sat, slowly eating my picnic lunch, moving from bench to bench so I could read every single quote and let its meaning sink in to my soul. One picture in particular broke my heart, a small boy with his head thrown back in delight at his first pair of shoes.

 

 

I wandered through the Julia Davis Park, snapping pictures of the plethora of fountains, statues, museums and even a rose garden with a gazebo.

 

I continued through the cool, vibrant parts of their downtown, checking out the capitol and finally stopping at an outdoor café. Of course you know I had to indulge in a baked good after all that walking! Rob called at just the right moment, as I was sipping coffee and perusing through the Boise Weekly, checking out all the things to do, and I got to share all my delight with him, too.

 

 

Making my way back slowly to the hotel, I found yet another park, named after the good Ann Morrison, whose wide open green space invited me to take my shoes off and just sink down on the grass. As I lay flat on my back, propping my pack behind my head for a pillow, I gazed at the slow moving clouds, and was transported back to my 12 year old self, with her best friend, Debbie Klotz, reclining on that same back in a wide open field on a late Sunday afternoon in the summer, watching the clouds, sharing our secrets, without a care in the world. That young girl was truly without one single care; it would be years before she would know anything about anxiety or worry. I realized that as much as I love Oakland, it had been a long time since I had felt this safe outdoors. I still wouldn’t trade all the Bay Area’s vitality and stimulation, but that feeling was oh so . . .restful.

 

I rolled over on my side with my book, Madeleine L’Engle’s, A Wrinkle in Time, a mystical romp, perfect for this vacation, and read myself into a little nap. . . when I awoke it was time to go back to the hotel and see if Kim and Adam had arrived yet.  I propped my feet up in the lobby and within minutes, there they were!  

Now, I get to share it all. There is nothing better than scouting out experiences to share with those I love. The pendulum swings from holy solitude to connection and oh, what delicious connection it was. That wonderful reunion in the lobby might have been the very best part of the whole trip. 

 

Vacation at Home – Part 11 

Freedom of Systems 1 

In real life we must take care of reality so we can afford to take care of what’s real.  - Sarah Ban Breathnach

 

Part of keeping it simple is developing systems to help make the everyday tasks and duties of life easier and less oppressive. The systems I have created sustain me and allow for deeply satisfying experiences on a daily basis. Keeping a clutter-free, clean home is foundational to maintaining a well-ordered, quality life. Developing systems and healthy daily habits open up the time and energy for enjoying and cultivating the peak experiences.  

Paradoxically, vacation at home involves keeping up with daily tasks. When I come home from work, I spend about a half hour on various home-caring tasks.  I sort through the mail and recycle catalogs so they don’t accumulate.  I try to handle paper only once because I don’t want to spend a precious weekend morning paying bills or filing invoices. I put things back when I use them.  Who wants to fritter away vacation time looking for the scissors or a phone number?   

I run a quick vacuum over the couch and bathroom rugs so they are fluffy and clean for the evening. I make lunch for the next day.  I might throw in a load of laundry. I keep lists of household products and foods that we use every day and make sure there are always back-ups in the cupboard, allowing us to keep our big food shopping to one trip a week. (Except for the daily trot across the street to Whole Foods for produce.) I hang up my work clothes when I take them off, and put jewelry and shoes away.  Then, I change my clothes, brush my teeth and wash my face and start my vacation for the evening. 

I also have systems for collecting gifts and cards I will need during the year. I browse through boutiques and card stores and find pretty things to save for my friends for birthdays and holidays.  There is nothing more satisfying than opening the wicker gift trunk we keep at the foot at the bed and finding the perfect hostess gift I bought six months ago for a dinner that night.  I love putting my hands on the perfect card, whether it is for a new baby, new home, wedding or graduation, all collected during the year and saved in a pretty flowered box in my nightstand, thereby saving the time and stress of having to find a card at the last minute. 

Systems make it possible to be on vacation at home.  They are fun and satisfying to maintain.  Ironing crisp cotton blouses, watering the geraniums, hanging freshly laundered nightgowns, changing the sheets, making coffee for the next morning, make me feel happy and contribute to my everyday contentment.  

I am like a butterfly flitting from flower to flower when home-caring or running errands.  It is deeply satisfying to tend to the little things in life; to keep the external and internal cabinets culled and clean. I know that I will savor it all later and be so glad it’s done.  The key is finding a balance between planning and spontaneity.  After I create the systems I can let them hum, while living creatively and fully, open to the mystery as it unfolds.