"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." - Thomas Merton
So, I went away this past weekend with one goal in mind. Live. Enjoy myself, enjoy others, and just hang out. I feel like it has been forever since I was able to let real life go and just be. Never mind that I just got out of Atlanta in time, hours before the flooding began. I spent the glorious weekend at the lake with some old friends from college and with new friends. It seems like I have a hard time letting things go. The day to day happenings, the priorities, the constant time schedule. Maybe that was why I had such a wonderful time. The drive down was 5 1/2 hours of alone. Just me, the road, and my ipod. well, and my camera. I kept passing what would have been gorgeous shots, but no where to pull off the road to take them! I finally decided that if I didn't just find somewhere to pull off, I never would. Driving in the middle of nowhere, backroads in Georgia, I ended up at an old train depot.
I really liked the colors in this old railcar. Eventually I made it to the lake, only to be the very first one there. How amazing it was just to kick back and pull out a book to read. Later in the weekend, (when it stopped raining for just little while,) we lounged out on the dock with a glass of wine. I felt more relaxed than I have in years. That weekend, full of friends, laughs, and a lot of rain, made me understand the beauty of taking a time out.
I couldn't agree with you more. I have the same problem with 'letting go'. I remember when I worked for my former employer, that even when I would leave for vacation I would have to draw up detailed day by day plans and still worry about what was going on, so much that it probably distracted me from actually relaxing. But once you find that place where you can just 'be', everything that doesn't matter just melts away. I'm glad you got a chance to relax and unwind. Lord knows that never happens when you work on the seventh layer.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I really love the colors in those train photos. Good eye as always!