Staycation - All I Ever Wanted

If you are a child of the 80’s/ 90’s then you are singing this familiar tune right now. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about….ask Alexa to play you Vacation by the Go Gos.

You will not be able to get this out of your head now.

You’re Welcome.

A few years ago (Pre- COVID), we had scheduled 5 days off of work to enjoy Spring Break with our son, Sam. We had ideas of following the snow or the sun in our camper.

Anytime we leave the farm, it means finding help for the horses, chickens and dogs. It means ramping up on house and farm chores to minimize the overwhelm on the other side of a break.

It also means, figuring out what we want to do.

None of those tasks are insurmountable; However, I find that when we have a hard time rallying for any of them, it probably means we need rest and a “simple” plan more than anything.

So we stayed home.

We divided up the days and each of us got to plan 2 of them. As a result we:

• Cleaned out our little storage shed to make way for an epic lego/mini-man cave.
• Sat in the hot tub
• Built a fire in the fire pit
• Visited our local feed store to see the new baby chicks- and debated about adding to our flock
• Went skiing at our local mountain and had a beautiful blue bird day
• Went into town for ice cream
• Went swimming at the local hot springs pool
• Biked around town
• Cleaned out the garden
• Went to the dump
• Hiked at Browns Canyon Wilderness Area
• Decluttered some more
• I made it to my yoga class while Josh and Sam played Galaga at our local arcade
• Went for the first mountain bike ride of the season
• Made homemade pizza, bread and cookies
• Watched some trashy TV
• Read books
• Organized papers & finances
• Built implements for our tractor

Just the three of us.

I loved every minute (well, most of it) and little did I know how that experience would prepare me and our family for the past year of pandemic.

It reminds me of a book that I read in graduate school in my “Developing Human Resources” class, The Enthusiastic Employee, by David Sirota.

In this book-he discusses how when employees feel equity, camaraderie, and a sense of shared achievement, they are much more productive and satisfied and “enthusiastic” about their work.

When I facilitate teams, I often ask leaders to think about whether they share these values for their employees and if so, what can they do to create a culture that fosters more of it?

I tend to look at our family the same way. How can we foster a sense of equity among us, camaraderie and shared achievement in our daily lives as well as when we have extended time together?

Our life design on that particular week allowed for the space to do all of this and as we entered our last day together, our "buckets" were full.

As you enter the weekend, whether you are “off” or working, consider the following:

• Do you feel a sense of equity in your life?
  
  
• Do you feel camaraderie with friends, family or co-workers?
  
  
• Do you have others to share your achievements with?
  
  
• Are you waiting for others to show up and make this happen for you?

You can create more of what you want in your life, your work, your relationships and your environment…and it starts with you.

• Are you fair to yourself?
  
  
• Do you treat yourself as well as you treat others?
  
  
• Do you celebrate your achievements (small or large) or do you move on quickly to the next task?
  
  
• Do you know how to have fun and create joy when you are alone?

I invite you to slow down for a minute and consider if you are practicing the kind of culture you want to create in your family or work place with yourself, first.

Maybe an internal staycation is just what is needed.

What do you think?

Happy Friday!
Jen