Welcome to Slow Sunday: a semi-regular feature exploring the journey to slow living and embracing joy in simplicity. Today’s Slow Sunday post is published after our return from a family vacation in Wells, BC, where we spent three weeks in my hometown being outside and unplugged.
Slow Living Vacations
When my husband agreed to a three week contract in my hometown of Wells this month, it was a no brainer that we would pack up our two dogs and toddler and make it a family trip. Some family friends offered us their vacation home so that we could have space and privacy for our stay and we quickly agreed.
It’s been great. It’s nice to visit family and friends, my toddler loves seeing his grandparents, and even the dogs love visiting their friends. My husband is having a great time, despite working almost every day. There is just something about getting away that feels like taking a deep breath.
In fact, I find myself struggling to figure out why everything feels so relaxed and easy. I didn’t leave all my responsibilities at home on Vancouver Island. We still need to cook, do dishes, turn over our laundry, and wipe food off the floors. In addition, this home is not at the level of baby proof as mine is, so I’ve taken on quite a bit more in the running around department. Right now I am literally surrounded by chaos; heaps of toys and toddler relocated household items. From where I am sitting I can see about thirty things that need to be put away. We desperately need to vacuum. I am remarkably comfortable; the only thing making me uncomfortable is how comfortable I am.
Vacation Amber vs Home Amber
What is it about being on vacation that just makes cleanliness not seem unimportant, but slightly less important? We don’t have a laundry hamper here so I’m just throwing all the dirty clothes in a pile on the floor. Home Amber would not recognize Vacation Amber. Vacation Amber doesn’t even make the bed properly. Vacation Amber knows that there is no point in cleaning up the toys when they’ll be all over again the next morning.
What is it? Maybe the part of my brain responsible for making beds and polishing mirrors decided it was on vacation too. Really, I suspect it also has to do with the minute stressors that can only exist at home not being here to set me on edge.
Mari Kondo’s Influence on my Slow Vacation
In “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” Mari Kondo cites a client of hers who, after putting her home in order, admitted that a sink full of dishes no longer bothers her. We know that visual clutter is detrimental to our health. We don’t really talk about the out of sight clutter: the closet that we walk past several times a day thinking “I really need to organize that” or the drawer that has become the “junk drawer”. Out of sight, but not out of mind?
When you’re away from home you’re only confronted with what you can see. It feels manageable. When you’re at home there is the to-do list, and then there is the to-do list: the one that sits on the periphery of your life and reminds you that your medicine cabinets look like a garbage dump.
It’s a lesson to remind myself that the small things feel smaller when the big things are taken care of. It’s not surprising, at this point I’ve realized that Mari Kondo is pretty much right about everything. I am going to run an experiment when I get home in a few days. I am only going to focus on my to do list. My hypothesis is that once I deal with all these low priority jobs my life will become a vacation.
Kidding.
But, I do think that if I spend a few days ignoring the toys on the ground and taking care of out of sight clutter I will be taking a step in the right direction. I don’t particularly want to dishes in my sink, but wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tolerate that every once in awhile? Just like on a vacation?
Alright Mari, I will give it a shot.
Leave a Reply