The One-Day Vacation
How are the Summer Enchantments going?
Dear Beautiful Friends,
On Wednesday I took a road trip with three other swim pals. We left Western Washington at 7 am, which looks like this:
And three hours later we were in Eastern Washington, at Deep Lake near Coulee City, which looks like this:
Talk about a radical change of scenery—and no plane ride required.
It was a big day, lots of driving, far more than the activity we set off to do. Common sense could easily have responded to Danielle’s RSVP with a hearty NO.
What, a three-hour drive there, for a three-mile swim and a picnic lunch, and then driving back the same day?
Exactly. That’s what we do when we’re Beauty Hunters in the middle of our summer enchantments—say yes yes and more YES. Especially if the invitation falls into the bucket of Things We Want to Do. My Things: swim, adventure, travel.
[And, to anyone else out there doing The Artists Way with me, paying attention to invitations is one of the menu items of creative recovery.]
Washington State is beautiful with unique and varied terrain. In the morning you can climb into a friend’s car with your coffee and day packs, snacks, swimming gear. From the land of evergreens and mountain peaks and ranges, you drive into a desert of open skies, wheat fields and buttes. In three hours, you arrive at a slinky green-blue lake bordered by rock walls.
It was otherworldly. After oohing and aahing an appropriate amount of time, we stretched out our fishtails and swam to the very end of the lake, stopping here and there to stare at the shale perimeter. One-and-a-half miles later, we were at the other end. We sunned ourselves on rocks, nibbled on energy bars, and SPLASH, we were back in there. Heads down, we swam hard the entire way back. And in case you’re wondering, no I did not keep up with the young, fast girls and aren’t they nice to have invited me anyway? Do you know what’s beautiful? Having friends of all ages.
The swim back, in water as soft and velvety as poems of the night.
In the photo below, you can get a sense of the milky green of the water, and the landscape. AKA our “pool.”
If you could take a one-day vacation, where would you go, where could you go? Get out a notebook and fill it with ideas, or keep a running list. Look at a map, what is wagging its finger at you?
Think of all the places in your area that are unique or defining to your geography/location.
Where have you always wanted to go that you could get to in a day?
OK, if you MUST spend the night, what the hell.
Let’s consider the big payoff of the micro-holiday. In 24 hours you can submit your body system to a completely fresh, novel experience. We might forget, but the human system likes change, thrives on it, even needs the variety. AND, it doesn’t have to be a 12-day trip to Rome or Egypt.
Be open to invitations. There are plenty of experiences and places I’ve never considered, but an invitation comes in and ooooh boy what an advenure.
Thank you Danielle, and happy birthday to our beautiful mermaid! XOXO
HOW ABOUT A ONE-HOUR CREATIVE HOLIDAY?
Playful Writing Pop-up Salons💥
4/5 Tuesdays in August,
9 - 10 am PDT
Register here, on Zoom
If you flirt with a writing practice, or want to begin (or return to) a project, this one’s for you! We're going to spend four 1-hr sessions writing from a variety of prompts and exercises that underscore play and fun to get us into a new state of creating. Let’s shred those struggling-writers myths. These salons will also set you up with a playful toolkit of your own. Experience the mystery, the magic, the synchronicity, the exploration, the je-ne-sais-quoi that transpires when we touch pen to paper and are ready for ANYTHING.
This is for paid Beauty Hunter subscribers, *or* anyone interested in / registered for the Creators' Circle that starts in September.
PS. You can subscribe for just one month at $8, with one free trial week, and receive an entire month of playful writing, at the price I almost spend on my morning coffee. Can't wait to write and play with you. XO
What a great idea, and a beautiful lake.