Today I leave for two weeks of vacation with my family. I love looking at the origins of words. In the case of vacation, the people who made up the word all those years ago knew that the key thought here is vacating. Vacating a home, presumably. But it also makes me think of vacating your mind, vacating your schedule, vacating the routine of your life.
When I was 34 I went on an extended vacation. I quit my job, traveled for two months, and then freelanced for a year. It was great. I remember thinking, intentionally, that I was creating a black hole. I was creating a vacancy for what was to come. I didn’t know what it was, so it took some courage, but I did understand the importance of not trying to create the future from the past. Creating empty space makes room for something new, for growth.
These two weeks I am looking forward to making space for re-calibration. I am into my second year with two children and just beginning my third year of my career change and new business. I don’t know exactly what the new normal will look like, but I do know that creating the vacancy is the first step.