What I did for my vacation

I like to take my vacations during the summer, and generally take two weeks, with several weeks of work between the two vacation weeks.  I enjoy the change of outlook that the vacations provide.  Also, I do not check emails, visit the internet, google, wiki, or check twitter during my vacations.  I feel like I’m off the grid.

This summer, my first week was at the San Francisco Early Music Society baroque workshop in northern California.  It was the fourth time I attended in 12 years.   Two of the times, I attended with my brother (who had actually told me about the workshop).  It’s a great way of spending time with my brother and doing something very engaging for the week.

This time I went alone and spent a week playing cello, violin, and harpsichord with other musicians from 20 to 80 years old.  I was immersed, and actually worked very hard, sometimes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

When I got back to work, I realized I had been working too hard at work, and that I had been multi-tasking too much.  I decided to back off from my busy schedule a bit, and reduced my multitasking, although I slipped once or twice.  A couple of weeks after my return, I found myself on the phone with a client.  After I had dialed her (during the dial tone), I resumed working, probably going to 2 or 3 different tasks at my desk during the time the phone was ringing her.   When she answered the phone, I had no idea who I had called.  Very embarrassing!

My second vacation was at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, where I spent the week drawing and painting a number of dried relics from nature, under the guidance of an artist/teacher.  I got obsessed with a dried thing with tentacles found in the dunes and kept drawing and painting it.  I worked from 9 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m., mostly standing on my feet.  It was exhausting, physically and mentally.

The attached photo is a digital Photoshop picture I made from the object, using a photo of it, the same object scratched out on clay board covered with India ink (with black and white reversed) and a superimposed nest I drew with pastels.  I call it, “Insect Invasion.”  Also attached is a “self portrait as a bug.”

When I got back to work from the second vacation, I realized that being at work was like a vacation.  Work was easy, relaxing, and fun, and remains so even 3 weeks later, at least most of the time.

I think that’s what vacations are for – to give us a new outlook on life and work.