Page Turner

I'm at that point in our vacation where there is more time spent than in what lies ahead. Still to enjoy is the remainder of a quiet afternoon, then a 7 o'clock dinner reservation at Au Pied du Cochon, a restaurant we return to fondly having celebrated our wedding anniversary there in 2007. Tomorrow, a quick stop at Fairmount Bagel before we make our way south toward all that awaits us at home.

And so, resigned to an inevitable return to reality, my mind looks again at the life I left behind. I peek in the window and peer around the corner at the responsibilities and requirements that await. A glance at my calendar. A look at my inbox. I find this reentry process is the same every time I go away. It starts with a desire to be completely removed from reality, both physically and mentally. As the vacation days progress, unconsciously the fluff and nonsense cluttering life is swept aside so when I look again, as I do today, it's so much easier to see my real priorities. Things I want to do differently and where to focus my attention. What I've been doing right and areas I've gone astray. I always return from vacation feeling so inspired to live my best life!

In this way, I think vacations serve as a lovely bookmark in life. Just as we start to lose focus, reading and rereading a paragraph without retaining so much as a word, we mark our place and set the book aside. After a spell, we return to this page with a clear mind and renewed attention, to not only finish the chapter at hand but to enjoy the sentences along the way.