Recently my husband and I bought a coupon for a two-night stay at a resort and spa. It’s a challenge for us to get away for vacation because of his business schedule and my work, so a short stay was a perfect way to reset our lives.
Our everyday life consists of multiple check-ins via cell phone from my mom who has Type 1 Diabetes and lives alone, calls and emails from clients for my husband’s framing business, my occasional work from home, a bouncy Puggle, Iggy, and a dignified cat, Miss Ellie. To say that we needed to disconnect and recharge was an understatement.
On our trip, we discovered that there is something amazing about having a conversation without interruption from our cell phones and iPads, pets, check-in duties and other responsibilities. We actually finished our thoughts. We shared our hopes for the future.
We began to reconnect as a couple again. We realized that at home, we had become stuck in a device rut. When we got home from a long day at work, we got on our phones. Or once we started talking about the day, it was time for my mom’s check in or a dog walk. It was endless. It was not sabbath keeping, and it was making us anxious and cranky.
Now, following our trip, we are trying to set time aside to relax and recharge. The phones are going on silent, the check-ins will be preemptive, the emails to clients will have to wait, and the dog walking is for our pleasure as well ad Iggy’s.
Do you give yourself and family time away from your cell phones or digital devices and other responsibilities? Has that time away helped you to stay more focused and connected to the people in your life?
Elizabeth McBride, director for intergenerational programs and editor of Café, wrote this blog after returning home from a relaxing vacation, and she hopes by the time it’s published, she is still living out her cellphone sabbath.
Photo: Spa accents by Karl Cossio, used with permission, Creative Commons.
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