Absence Makes The Heart

Vacations always seem to shift the way I view my life. Time spent away tends to sharpen my focus. It's probably a result of simply not being at home where dishes, meals and tasks are ever present. Vacations make the mundane slip away.
I try to be more patient on vacation. I try to have more 'non-type A' fun. I try to actually SIT and not feel the need to be getting things done. I'm not always successful, and I'm not quite sure why it takes a vacation for me to actually attempt these things.

I look more closely at my kids when they are removed from our every day environment. I also seem to find more joy in the smallest of moments. New surroundings tend to make my children appear new as well.

But, I am also a person who craves the regular rhythm of the every day. Vacations stir the rhythm. A part of me tends to fight the change it brings.

This is why I also find great joy in the returning. Coming home is like rediscovering peace. Laundry washed and folded. Everything settled back in its place. Comfort seems to trickle way down into my bones.
Vacations are a lot (I repeat, A LOT) of work. But they are also a refresher course on life. They give you the chance to saturate yourself in family. To see them dig in the sand or bend low to grab a sea shell. They let you relax all the rules and let memory building become your sole purpose.

But, at the end of the day, vacations pull you home. Right back where you started.

As it should be.