Being ‘on holiday’ is a powerful state of mind.
I discovered a new walk yesterday and for 2 hours I was ‘on holiday’, only a 10-minute drive from where I live. It was along the Wey and Arun Canal in West Sussex and along the way we met and spoke to at least 15 people, 10 dogs, and 1 horse. We still puzzled over how locks actually worked and marvelled at the bravery of the person who suggested building a canal in the first place, what a feat of engineering over a hundred years ago, it just blows my mind.
We spent time trying to identify the amazing array of wildflowers and wondered what breed the pure white cows were, refraining from giving it a quick Google, using a phone only as a camera and staying away from social media. We also loved the silence of no traffic noise and only the occasional waterfall to listen to alongside the birds.
It was a total break from the norm. We nearly didn't go because it had looked like rain, but the sun shone just for us and it was beautiful. Just like a full week away, it did wonders for the heart and soul as well as the body.
The permission to simply be
Being on holiday, truly on holiday, not “working from a nicer location”, requires giving yourself permission to exist without output. No deliverables. No check-ins. No inbox. Just you, moving through the world at the pace the world was actually designed for.
What pocket of your world have you discovered lately? Can you suspend your everyday life for an hour or two to indulge in a mini holiday?
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”, Anne Lamott
Rest is not the opposite of productivity. It is the condition for it. The walk produced nothing. And yet I came home with three ideas I had not been able to access when I was “trying.”
If you are reading this and cannot remember the last time you truly switched off, not just reduced your workload, but genuinely rested, it is not an indulgence. It is a practice. It is, in fact, one of the most collaborative things you can do, because it makes you more fully available to every person and project that matters to you.
Find your canal path. Go slow. Leave the phone in your pocket. Have a great week everyone.