I took yesterday's and today's photos a couple of years ago, in May, when I gave myself permission to take a vacation in Europe. The flowers were outside a Parisian florist, this magical place is the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.A number of my fellow-MFAers have been experiencing burnout lately, and I sure know that feeling. I am feeling it now too. I'm unmotivated, feeling burdened and put upon. A friend has asked me if I want to get together for an hour (one little hour) this weekend and my knee-jerk reaction is that I can't afford the time off. I have work to do!
I remember when I first started working, I thought that I could not afford the time that a vacation would take. So I started to avoid vacations or always take work with me. About ten years ago, I realized that I had not gone anywhere without at least some work-related reading in more than a decade. And often the work that I took never got done, but cast a dark shadow over the whole vacation. I was plagued with the sense that I should be working. My conclusion: A vacation is time off work without any work to do. It occured to me that no one is going to give me permission to take that kind of vacation, but I am a grown-up. I can take one if I want. Yes, sometimes I need to scale the expectations back to fit with my finances, but there is always some destination that is within my reach. Sometimes, even staying in town and doing something I would not ordinarily do can be a vacation. I find that when I give myself permission, I feel better about my work and I can remember what I like about it, even convince or remind myself that I have chosen this work (for now). It does not rule me.
You know how they say that if you don't sleep, you go insane and then you die. Well, I think the same is true of not taking real vacations. It may take longer, but it will kill us, and along the way, it will suck the joy out of our lives and make us crazy.
So please, please, plan a vacation. The more you think that you have no time, the more you need one! Me: I'm going to Chicago in May, and before that I am taking some time off right here.
5 comments:
I totally agree. I was the same way- never took a real vacation until about 3 years ago. Now you can't stop me. The year before I started the MFA we took 4 vacations in exotic places!- of course that couldn't continue, but I'm all for taking time off.
I couldn't agree more. I don't even care where I go, I need vacations, even if they're short. I think I spend more money on trips than anything else (aside from my mortgage). I wish I could master the art of taking a vacation at home. I find it hard to get away from the everyday stresses when I'm in the same place.
I actually took off time from writing this weekend. I just had to turn away from the essays for JB. I had lunch with a friend and went to the movies Sat night. I did non-MFA work, but more busy stuff that needed to get done (writing recommendations for students) that didn't take a lot of mental space. I've also been getting back into volunteering and RAOK (my acronym for Random Acts of Kindness), which always puts things in perspective. I didn't do any essay writing today (Mon) either. Back at it tomorrow, but I feel a little fresher.
I hear your point about vacations. I'm going to try to plan a day or two at the Cape in May and/or September.
Thanks for posting this! :)
I also took some time off this weekend. I'm glad to hear that you chilled a bit FC. When this is all over I'm going to start seriously looking into places like the MacDowell Colony where you can go and just write and have your needs taken care of for a month. Sigh!
Awesome. It is amazing how some people come up with cool ideas.
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