September 09, 2020

Last week, I took my very first “staycation.” I chose the beginning of September because I saw a time in my calendar when I had nearly two weeks between Zoom events. I jumped at the chance to take time off, even if I couldn’t physically leave town. At least I could just take it easy for a week.

It turns out that I’m not very good at slowing down. I’m used to taking vacations to travel, or at least to do exciting things. My staycation turned out to be a frustrating, but ultimately liberating, lesson in how to do nothing.

It was hard not to think about work-related projects while staying at home. It took a surprising amount of will power to wrench my mind away from the Pasadena Senior Center and to give myself permission to think about something else. For so many months now, work has been one thing that has kept me balanced and engaged. To stop, even for a week, felt like a void. I might have just gone on working, but our broadband went out, leaving the house without internet, wireless, and land-line phone. It took six days to finally get the broadband service connected again.

I could still get internet and email on my small smartphone, but the 6”x3” screen isn’t very easy to read, and that tiny virtual keyboard makes it hard to type. But wait! Wasn’t the point of this vacation to disconnect? If I had gone to Paris, instead of staying home, I wouldn’t be working! Now I had a reason to untether from my computer and start doing “real” things like sorting through all the boxes in the garage.

Then came the second curveball of the week: blistering heat. I live about ten miles from the beach, where the marine layer keeps the weather temperate. No need for air-conditioning, just open the windows! Except for days like this past week when the heat and humidity move in and stay. Nowhere to run to – movie theatres are all closed. Nowhere to hide – the house isn’t much cooler than the outside.

The heat put a stop to plans for cleaning the garage. For moving boxes. For sorting through shelves in airless closets. Long walks were out of the question, as was a leisurely visit to the Huntington Gardens. No patio lunches. It got almost too hot to be able to concentrate on a book.

So, instead of a week filled with tasks accomplished and stimulating trips, I puttered around. I did some early morning gardening, re-arranged the glassware in the dining room cabinet, chopped vegetables for soups and salads. Polished jewelry. Talked on the phone. Talked to my dad. And made blueberry sorbet. I did all sorts of unimportant things that were quiet and peaceful and ultimately restorative. Yes, it is important to keep busy and be productive, but it is also important to put aside expectations from time to time, and just be. I hope it won’t take another internet outage and record heat for me to remember that!