Post-Vacation Blahs

morning sun at Cap-des-Rosiers
(across the road from our motel)

It seems my trip to the East coast has left me in a tender space. After a week that brought soul-filling moments of peace and contentment I've slipped into a space of envy and dissatisfaction. It happened after last year's vacation too.

Maybe it's Mother Nature's doing, she brings me back to my core and sometimes she invites me to stay a while and entertain Life's Big Questions. Or maybe it's just my disgruntled reaction to a return to work and schedules vs. the freedom of a summer road trip.

Whatever it is, my intuition is telling me to scale back to my list of proven Basics and that means a little less time at the computer and a little more time taking care of myself and my home.

My intuition's pretty smart that way, I think I'll listen to it and see what comes.

See you soon.
xo

Belle Gaspésie

view from lookout on the way up to Mont Saint-Alban's
observation tower - Forillon National Park, QC

I'm back from my trip to the East coast and easing into post-vacation activities like work, chores and even writing here. I still marvel at the scenery taken in during our five days in Quebec's beautiful Gaspésie.

I'll be back with a trip report and a few favourite photos soon. In the meantime I thought I'd share the one above, taken on a climb up Mont Saint-Alban in Canada's Forillon National Park. It still takes my breath away.

Belle Gaspésie, I am smitten.

After the Flow, The Creative Ebb

work in progress - untitled

After the creative high comes the inevitable crash.

June was all about doing: setting up a new Web site, taking flying lessons in creative entrepreneurship, expanding connections with like-minded people, busting through artistic comfort zones and producing new paintings, conjuring up, planning and scheduling new projects for the fall. It was a full-on trip of creative momentum and energy.

Enter July.

July surprised me with a considerable shift in energy and is whispering to me about being: sitting, writing, observing, experiencing the present and letting go of to-do lists and expectations. It's also shifting my thoughts from the outward matters of business, networking and creativity to more inward matters like the home, roots, family and nature. It's a slowing down, a return to the core after a flurry of external activity.

I won't lie, there's a part of me (most likely an irrational one) that's afraid I've lost June's creative flow forever; luckily another part of me is practicing trust that this creative ebb is all part of the process and necessary to replenish the well.

Maybe it's simply time to embrace flow of a different kind for a while. I'm choosing to run sit with it and see where it takes me.

PS - I'll be away from this space for a week or so as I take a break to soak in some salty sea air, but I'll be back the week of the 19th - maybe even with that new Web site I've been promising! See you on the flip side. xo

Cottage Comforts

I thought I'd share a few snippets of last week's cottage getaway comforts...

view from the dock

outdoor art - kindred spirits were here!

a favourite spot in the screened in porch

fuel for warmth on chilly September nights

comfort was curling up on that couch with a book
in front of a crackling fire

beauty in the small touches

moose on a ledge full of cottage trinkets

I didn't get a good picture, but I was smitten with the contents of their Billy bookcase library. Who wouldn't be with titles like "The Amateur Naturalist's Handbook", "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson and "A Country-Lover's Guide to Wildlife" - not to mention all the field guides: birds, animal tracks, trees, reptiles, insects, to name a few.

Sigh, kindred spirits and comfort indeed. Is it any wonder I didn't want to leave? :)

Seeking: A Lighter Shade of Grey

morning sun and mist on Bennett Lake

I have dipped in a post-vacation slump. Les bleus. Blah.

Last week’s stay at the cottage was balm for the soul. Blissful. With no obligations or schedule, it gave me space to breathe and escape the to-do’s of the previous weeks and those of the weeks to come.

I read. I slept. I curled up by the fire and fell asleep on the couch. I paddled around the lake with D. I let the bird geek in me shine. I re-connected with nature, simple and country living. I discovered that I’m not always comfortable with the night when there’s no ambient noise or light. I attempted to reconcile with the night by listening to its sounds, stargazing and cultivating a curiosity for what goes on while we sleep. I observed. I logged our activities and wildlife sightings in my journal. I ate chips - a lot of chips. I went to bed at 9:30pm and woke up at 7:30am, eager to discover what the lake and its surroundings had to offer each morning. I lounged on the dock in the sun and did nothing. I hung out with D. in comfortable silence. I hiked a new-to-me trail in Algonquin Park. I heard a wolf howl for the first time under a moonlit sky, accompanied by 800 fellow wolf howl enthusiasts. I scored some books at not one, but two used bookstores. I spent time with Sis, Bro-in-Law and a dear man who inspires with his love of life. I experienced contentment. I experienced anxiety. I experienced peace.

Today I feel tired and frazzled, dipping into a familiar territory I am reluctant to acknowledge. After last week’s colourful high, these past few days have been a shade of grey that’s quickly becoming darker in contrast. So today I’m allowing myself to rest, rest and see what balm my soul needs to bring back some colour - or at least a lighter shade of grey 'cause really, grey can be beautiful too:

lake dancers in the mist

Ready for a Vacation

What a week this has been! Full, full, full of goodness. I...

• ran three times
• painted Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
• worked almost six hours on my Outside the Job Box course
• went to my last sunrise yoga class
• worked a busy week at the office
• wrote a few blog posts
• picked up most of my supplies for Squam Art Workshops in September
• picked up an escape novel and two new Teach Yourself books for my upcoming week off (Film Studies and Sudoku)
  
• picked up frames and ordered custom-cut mats for my paintings in preparation for a potential exhibit at my hair salon in September
• returned two out of the four frames 'cause they didn't work with the paintings and picked up a 16x20 pane of glass 'cause I cracked the glass on one of the brand new frames I'd just picked up
• perfectly timed several loads of pre-vacation laundry so we had enough space to hang everything to dry in rotation after the dryer crapped out on Tuesday
• planned, prepped & packed almost everything for our week at the cottage

I haven't been on a cottage vacation since childhood; I look forward to it! I feel like I'm bringing a lot of stuff to do though, you know, just in case. Does anyone else do that?

After all, if I bring too many options from home, when do I get the chance to just be, or play cards, or sit by the fire, or go canoeing, or hiking, or swimming, or lounge in the sun and do sweet nothing?

Hm. Maybe I need to rethink my strategy.

Either way I'll be living by a lake for a week in a cottage with D. surrounded by trees, loons and stars. Sweet vacation, I am ready. As for you my dear friends, I'll catch you on the flip side.