At last it’s May, which means there are only a couple of weeks before I’m headed overseas for our vacation in Basque Country.
To get a little heavy for a moment, I’ve often been guilty of not being present lately, of wishing for time to pass more quickly. I don’t like that practice, hate recognizing it in myself, and know it isn’t a healthy long term outlook. I’ve been very run down from work. In truth, it’s the one negative thing about my current circumstances that I can think of, but it’s a big one. It’s gotten to the point where my life, my sleep, and my mental state are out of whack. It’s overwhelming other aspects of my life and sometimes I can really get down about it. Sunday night blues are hitting me hard these days. Sometimes I can’t help but look ahead and fear that this is what it’ll be like forever. I remind myself that this too shall pass. I’m working on it.
I’m working on it. And I’m planning to reconnect with my happiness during my time away from the office on this upcoming vacation. My to do list this month includes some things for here and some for there.
Hang out with my sister at the studio My sister is heading back to the studio this month and I’m so excited to hang out with her there and make pots together. When she was taking her wheel class I’d try to head in to work on my pieces during her class sessions and we’d pick up bubble tea before commuting together at the end of the night. Until it becomes somewhat of a routine, you don’t realize how wonderful it is to have your sibling in the same city and to actually get to see them on a regular basis. A spoon a night Factoring in my time away, I’ll have 17 days at home in May. In an effort to continue my handbuilding efforts, I’m planning to make at least one item every day that I don’t go into the studio to do wheel or glazing work. My focus is on building my spoon inventory but I’ll leave some flexibility for other things too. Leave room in the suitcase I have a rigorous and slightly neurotic way of packing for travel. My goal for each vacation is to optimize my wardrobe options while leaving as much room in the suitcase as possible for lightness, for local coffee, for the spontaneous purchase of some treasured find I may yet discover. I’ll be finishing up my packing list over the next week and a half and so far it’s looking good but I’ll be able to confirm soon. I’ll also share my packing strategy here for anyone itching to pick up a new neurosis. Know when the sun rises and sets on each of the days of our vacation I’ve long been a sucker for watching the sun rise over new horizons, something I learned to love while dating my now husband. I’ll note the sunrise times on each of the days we’ll be in France and Spain but since we’ll be on the western coasts of these countries I think that sunsets will be the more spectacular moments to catch. It’ll be a reminder each day to take a few minutes to shut up and experience the passing of time, to bid the light good evening and prepare to enter into the night, which can be more alive and more brightly colored than the day (Van Gogh said so). And with that, Live a little In a recent conversation with my husband about our past trips, we came to the realization that we hardly ever experience night life when we travel together. It came as kind of a surprise at first but upon reflection, it makes total sense. When we travel we love to start early and walk around all day. I mean all day. We rarely come back to where we’re staying to take mid-day breaks or to nap. We typically turn in shortly after a late dinner and maybe one nightcap somewhere on the way back. This is something we’ll make an effort to change this time. I don’t want to miss out on the after hours energy of the places I’m hoping to get to know. I think that part of the reason I loved Prague so much was that we experienced the city by day and by magic of night. Magic is the word I return to again and again when I think of Prague, a city that wholly imprinted itself on me. Night time strolls ahead I guess!