Try an At-Home Vacation!

Bosco delights in a super-fun vacation at home

Felines heartily concur with this caution.  We absolutely love practicing this directive in the Rule.  And I personally treasure being at home with the Benedictine felines and the Resident Novices. As a result of our non-extensive travel, we felines have learned the art of vacationing at home.

Perhaps you love to be at home, too, or are not able or don’t wish to venture far from your home base.

Would you like to learn how you can vacation at home so that there will be no need for you to “roam outside?”  Wonderful!   Please read on for three suggestions from the Feline Cloister.

Suggestion #1 – Take Intentional Time for Observation

We can have a wonderful vacation at home by practicing the art of observation right where we are.  Trust me.  It is interesting and relaxing.  The world provides endless opportunities for observation.  And this is very Benedictine for observation means that we are living in the present moment.  Here’s an example from the Feline Cloister

Sr. Nikki likes to sit on the sill of the bow window in the living room.  It’s a warm, sunny spot.  She will sit there for hours.

There’s a lovely patch of Amma’s daisies outside the window.  Nikki lets her gaze rest on the daisies.  Her eyes follow the little flying insects that alight on the daisies for a meal.  She can also see the native plant called Bergamot.  The flowers are a lovely purple and attract many busy bees who buzz from one flower to another.

What Greets Sr. Nikki’s Eyes

Amma’s Bergamot, a New Jersey native plant, also known as (Monarda fistulosa)

Observation Opens Us to the Beauty and Diversity of Creation

Nikki mewed  that she wonders how the bees decide which flower to visit for a tasty bite.

Do they remember which flower they have visited?

Are they bothered by the other bees  and the butterflies that visit the flowers, too?

Do they compete or are they content to share the bounty?

These are the kind of questions we can ask when we sit quietly and observe the world around us.  We’re not the only creatures of worth on the planet, although we felines sometimes stray into this view.

When we really look at something for a time, we can see beauty, marvel at intricacies or behavior, and honor the life that they live, be it an insect, an animal or a plant.  We can consider how we might best relate to them and respect them.

Benedict says, that we are to honor everyone. (RB 4.8)   By taking a vacation at home to observe what is around us, to really stop and look, we honor that living plant or creature.  And we are refreshed in the looking at God’s amazing Creation.

Suggestion #2 – Take a Quiet Rest from the Usual Stuff

My second suggestion for an at-home-vacation is to rest.  And here is why we need to rest.

“In returning and rest we shall be saved.
In quietness and trust shall be our strength.” Isaiah 30:15

Rest is Best!

The Many Ways to Rest

Rest can be a nap.  Rest can also be setting aside things that normally occupy our busy days to instead have some “open time.”  We rest our body.  We rest our minds.  We turn away from pressures of things to do. 

This can be a day, a half day, several days or just an hour.  Sit on the porch, read a book, bake cookies, work on a hobby you have let slip, or even plan nothing and see how the Spirit inspires you. 

An At-Home Vacation can include reading a great book

Suggestion #3 – Do Something Fun Alone or with Others – Whatever Floats Your Boat

Br. Ricky absorbed in watching
his favorite outdoor friend,
Winston the Chip,
scurry up a tree

Vacations with Art

Amma loves visiting art museums as a part of At-Home Vacations.  This does involve a bit of travel, but only for part of a day.  The train ride to New York City takes under an hour.  She visits the Metropolitan Museum or the Guggenheim Museum.

Seeing the beauty of the art is both inspiring and cleansing.  Annoyances vanish and perspectives improve.  There is a new energy to return to tasks and responsibilities.  A vacation day with art helps us learn to be in the present moment and to heighten our ability to observe.  An example follows from a recent exhibit at the Guggenheim in New York City.

Harmony and Dissonance: Orphism in Paris, 1910–1930

An explosion of color and form brings joy!

For more on this exhibit at the Guggenheim, tap here.

This art is all about expressing energy and motion, here in seemingly unrelated objects.  Severini uses the same shapes and colors to convey the movements of a dancer, a spinning airplane propeller, and the roiling sea.  A vacation to view this painting can reveal subtlties and relationships.

To see a large image, tap here.

Novice Terri Has An Answer – Trust!

We can trust that God will help us complete what we are setting aside for a time.  I think it is a matter of determining what is really important – that we get things done or that we enjoy or life as we do what we must do.

When I step away from all the to-dos and take a refreshing break, I return with more energy.  And I find joy in what God has asked me to do.

If it is difficult to let go of the shoulds and to-be-done’s, write these on a piece of paper.  Then put the paper in a drawer.  You can retrieve them up after your home vacation.  I will bet that you will have an easier time doing what needs to be done after a refreshing break.