In the past two weeks, I have done some recreating, let me tell you what.
In our little camper, my husband and I visited recreational parks, a recreational area and recreational trails.
We hiked up mountains and along boggy ponds (we saw a moose!). We sat in rivers and swam in lakes. In a big sunny field, we watched two beloveds commit to loving each other for the rest of their days. We read a bunch of brilliant books and listened to podcasts about everything from a therapeutic approach to healing trauma to the hilarious doings of John Mulaney and Mike Myers. I even made some art (above!).
We recreated.
Before we left, I would have said we were going on “vacation,” but as I kept seeing the word “recreation” to describe the places we visited, it got me thinking.
The word “vacation” is rooted in the Latin verb vacare which means to ‘be unoccupied.’ As in to vacate, to go away, to leave.
The word “recreation” means refreshment of strength and spirits and comes from the Latin verb recreare, ‘create again, renew’.
We were not “unoccupied.” We connected with Nature and ideas and people and each other. We didn’t vacate. We were created anew.
Part of me thought that we had to go away to do that but actually we can make the intentional choice for recreation wherever we are.
Now that we are home again, I am finding recreation that we don’t have to vacate to get. We can recreate wherever we are: have my tea on the porch, make time to walk with a friend, move to great music, eat a new dish, read (yet another) fabulous book.
Whatever your plans in the coming months, ask yourself, what would feel re-creational? Forget vacation and choose recreation. In these often painful and difficult times, we all need to find renewal.
Go away if you like. Be unoccupied if it feels good. Just remember that vacating is optional; regular recreation is not.