Time Out
Three wisdoms ago I wrote about how necessary it is for us to stop and savour the moment in “One Task One Moment”. Just as important, but a little bit different is the practice of taking time out from all that we are used to doing. This past weekend was a great opportunity for me to do just that – invest in some “me” time away from all the busyness and routine to which I usually succumb. Thank you to my good friend who helped me achieve this!
Taking time out means putting a stop to everything we are used to doing to finally do something we have wanted to for a long time, but have been putting off. It doesn’t have to be big or grand, just enjoyable. This past weekend my friend helped me see how delightful it is to become a tourist in your own back yard, which is something that most of us don’t remember to do unless we are touring guests around. To stop and treat yourself as that very same guest is an eye-opening experience. I’ve done this before living in Okanagan wine country, where the splendour of the lake spread out before many winery terraces gives new meaning to the experience of wine tasting! However, to find an attraction in your own backyard where it may appear as though nothing much is going on is a different matter. And so it is with where I live, in the country in the middle of “nowhere”.
There are however, things going on, always. My time out saw me strolling along shops in a quaint town, enjoying lunch on a patio, eating decadent homemade ice-cream, sitting in the town park that I have driven by numerous times and not least, visiting my local zoo (there really is a zoo 5 minutes from where I live)! It’s really more of an educational center and retreat for animals that otherwise probably couldn’t make it on their own, and the enclosures have been created so that visitors can get fairly close to many of them (donkeys, fowl, llamas, a tortoise, pot-bellied pigs). It was actually a lot of fun to get down on the ground eye-level with some of these wonderful creatures to decide just who was observing whom.
Now, I’ve been to plenty of zoos around the world, but this visit was special. As my friend and I were preparing to leave, we observed the owner feeding a baby wallaby in a homemade pouch. Instead of leaving, we sat down at the picnic table to enjoy a lovely visit, all the while getting a lesson in wallabies. This little dolly (pictured) named Willow, held and suckled her bottle not unlike a human babe. When she was done, she enjoyed a romp outside her pouch and then as quick as silver somersaulted back into it, where she would stay until her next feeding in 4 hours. Wallabies instinctively know when they are ready to leave their pouch, with this human mom keeping an eye out for signs of Willow’s growing independence, when one day she will be returned to her wallaby family. Both my friend and I agreed this unexpected “time out” was the cherry on the sundae, petting baby Willow and being able to observe up close the interaction between her and the human world. I came home feeling totally rejuvenated and so glad I gave myself permission to “chill” and do something so simple and wonderful that I’ve been wanting to do for so long.
I encourage you to give yourself the gift of time away from it all to relax, visit, observe and enjoy the many nuances of moments that otherwise all too easily slip away from us.
My heart to yours,
Vonne
