The benefits of taking a vacation seemed to begin as soon as I understood I could take a vacation while staying at home – a “staycation.”
I walked around my house and asked myself what would soothe and delight me if I were renting it for a week. I felt moved to tears by all the possibilities: sitting with a cup of tea regarding Woman Rising; sipping a nourishing smoothie made in an all-white kitchen with linoleum checkered black and white like the tile floors of Versailles; writing and drawing in the light and space of the sun room designed by previous owner Paula Markham; watching a movie in a TV room arranged just for me, recliner foot rest just inches away from the screen so I can pretend I’m in the front row at a movie theater; strolling the small yard transformed into an edible garden by Paula with a meditation labyrinth designed by musician and gardener Caleb Flood in its beginning stages.
Quirky! Surprising! Remarkable!
So even beginning to plan a staycation has begun what a vacation invites – to see anew.
To do anew will be more of a challenge.
I use the upstairs of my two-story house as a studio apartment. On my standard day, I awaken early, descend the stairs to make tea, tend the cats, ascend again, and write. I take a break, descend, make two fried eggs, and eat them out of a bowl while walking to get the newspaper for myself and my neighbors. A few hours more of writing, then I have a small bowl of muesli, drive to do a workout at the gym or swimming pool, get a Subway egg sandwich, and eat it in the car driving home. I take a nap, have a cup of coffee, do corporate paperwork or house chores, eat a Lara Bar, do more work, eat some veggie corndogs, go to a support group meeting, come home, eat some oatmeal, listen to an audiobook while playing with the cats, go to bed.
Nothing wrong with my standard day. Let’s just see what happens if I shake it up a little.
To protect my mental health and sobriety, I will continue to eat pretty healthily, exercise, attend counseling, and attend support groups. Otherwise, I have intentionally scheduled an out-of-my-ordinary activity each day that respects my personal constraints but intentionally challenges my patterns. With the rest of each day, I can do whatever I want – except what I usually do. A wish list from which I might choose is at the bottom of this post.
Here’s the message on my email autoresponder:
Handshake Media, Incorporated will be closed for a creative sabbatical from Monday, January 4, through Friday, January 8, 2016. We will take a connectivity holiday as well and not be available through email, social media, text or phone, except by latter in emergencies. If you have an emergency, please call 540-808-6334 and leave a message. We look forward to being in touch with you when we return!
The only technology I intend to use will be an iPod for audiobooks and for music while working out, and a television for movies. No laptop for typing, no Internet, no Facebook, no email, no text, and phone on silent. I’ll check occasionally for calls from my father, sister, and expert painter Jeff Proco who is doing work on my father’s house before he starts again on mine after my staycation. I may listen to voice mails if I sense an emergency. Otherwise, I’m disconnecting, just for a bit.
In my audiobook queue:
- The Silkworm, Cormoran Strike novel #2, by J. K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith. Absolutely loved the first one.
- The Art of Memoir
, Mary Karr (author of Lit, included in my recovery reading list)
. Perfect for a writer to take time to learn about writing.
Friends made wonderful suggestions via Facebook for films to watch, Laurel Sindewald compiled the list for me, and Lara Hayward starred her suggestions. I’ll share which movies I watch after I “return.” From friends, I also received wonderful ideas for home spa treatments and tourist attractions in Blacksburg. Risa Pesapane sent me a homemade bath bomb! Kelly Queijo gave me an Orange Bandana gift basket! Greg Kiebuzinski brought me staycation flowers for the sun room! I’m set!
Using Debra Bass’s outline as a guide, here are my staycation plans:
Sunday, 1/3 – last day before staycation
- 4:00 PM – Serve as host at inaugural SMART Recovery meeting at NRVCS
- Midnight – Officially begin staycation although I’ll be asleep for it.
Monday, 1/4
- Awaken, descend, make tea, and, instead of ascending to write, stay on the ground floor and go into the sun room. There, I have pushed together the two banquet tables we use for women’s gatherings to made a roomy work space. As my mother did for us when my sister and I were children, I have supplied myself with a bounty of creative materials – magazines, scissors, crayons, construction paper, glue. (She also made sure we had a box of gummed shiny stars which I couldn’t find.)
- Plug in the sparkle lights bequeathed by previous owner Paula.
- Draw, color, cut, make stuff, see what happens.
Tuesday, 1/5
- Go to a support group I’ve never been to before in an unexpected place.
Wednesday, 1/6
- 10:30 AM Core workout with personal trainer Laurie Maddox at The Weight Club. I do the same workout every time I go solo to The Weight Club – run like a maniac, or as maniacally as a 57-year-old woman can run, lift, stretch, go to Subway. On Saturdays, I run like a maniac and lift during interval training with Don Belote. I’ve watched and admired Laurie’s intentional personal workouts and work with clients but I’ve never worked with her. To hold still? To move slowly and specifically without weights or equipment? Radical.
- 4:15 PM Solo spa meditation session with Lynn Theodose. Every single mediation session with Lynn is paradoxically mind-blowing and mind-healing. Weekly sessions with her are unique and extraordinary and if I were truly on vacation in another place, I would probably figure out a way to get in and out of Blacksburg not to miss this.
Thursday, 1/7
- 8:00 AM – 12:30 PM Visit Allure Spa with friends Gail Billingsley and Kelly Queijo.
Friday, 1/8
Saturday, 1/9
- 12:00 AM – Staycation ends while I sleep.
- 4:30 AM – When I’m back from staycation, I’ll awaken early as usual, and start my standard day.
But maybe not.
What I will be after staycation is back in touch with you!
. . . . .
Wish list of staycation to-dos in no particular order
Time to think, write, draw, create, read
Spa visit for facial and hand wax
Geology museum visit
Barnes & Noble visit
Library visit
Shop for clothes at Bonomo’s
Pedicure – walk-in at Top Nails
Session with Paula Wilder (Got lucky! Scheduled for me!)
Collage session with __________ (Made luck happen! Scheduled it myself!)
Drawing lesson (Fantastic lesson with Haley Bechtel before staycation!)
Afternoon coffee at ODB with pad of paper
Afternoon coffee at Starbucks with pad of paper
Audiobooks
Matinees
Movies at home
Get flowers delivered
Catering of mid-day meals
Mellow Mushroom early dinner – Holy Shitake (recommended by friend Lavinia Touchton!)
Sliced cucumbers in pitcher of ice water
Pandora – Yoga Radio / Urban Meditation
Neck roll – heated in microwave
Create and photograph still lifes
Dance lesson
