Vacationing at Home

I thought long and hard about going to a yoga class this morning. I've been off the yoga-class circuit for over a year now, choosing an occasional DVD-led stretch instead. I really need to get back to a class though because for me, yoga leads to all sorts of good things like health awareness, stress management, and general thoughts of peace and harmony.

Thing is, I traded yoga for the chance to vacuum and start a pork chili in my slow cooker. And I couldn't feel more content with that choice.

For the past 10 days, I haven't worked. I did cheat occasionally and respond to an email or two because have an often unhealthy relationship with my work, and I find it difficult to shut it off. (This is casualty of both working from home and having an obsessive personality.) After about four days off, though, work became easier to pay no mind to. While I find it a little sad that it took four days, it was really liberating to feel the difference when I was finally able to make the break.

During my time off, we rarely left the house. It was too cold for outdoor activities on most days. So we stayed inside and played. I put away all the holiday decorations; I cooked; knitted; read; watched movies; blogged; walked on the treadmill; organized things that have dogged me for months; noticed funny things about the kids; took a family field trip to a science museum; played a little Guitar Hero. Basically, I did things that give me comfort -- and that I can't seem to find time for on a normal day (or on a vacation). And boy, I sure feel refreshed and unbound right now. So much so that the kids are going back to school tomorrow, and I'm not even looking forward to it.

So back to that yoga decision this morning. Yes, I should've packed up and dragged myself to the gym, but I couldn't yet deal with the scheduling -- the fact that I had to be somewhere at a specific time. All that starts tomorrow when we wake up to an alarm and have to catch the school bus at 7:35 a.m. sharp. Then I'm back at work and back on schedule. I'll just try to make yoga part of that schedule -- and laugh at the irony.

As far as getting back to work, I feel no burdens about that. I'm not saying that I'm anxious to get back in the saddle, but I have a few projects that need some attention, and I'm ready to finish them off. For the first time in about six months, I don't feel my life is being driven by work, and I will go back to work with a self-commitment to be more diligent in having on and off time. Makes me a happier (and probably better) worker anyway.

Finally, two notes to self: (1) vacations at home can be great vacations, and (2) work-home boundaries are extremely beneficial to both work and home (surely a common knowledge but usually a difficult practice).

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