Relax

Week 30

Relax.

July 24 - July 30

There is a highly undervalued and grossly underutilized principle out there. I'd be first in the confessional line to air my transgressions in this area, and my commentary is not from perfection of the principle in my own life. Rather, by my own acknowlegement and to my detriment, I have failed to incorporate REST properly into my life. Not free time. Not vacation. Not time off work necessarily, these things are great... but they are not the same as rest.

Someone I respect recently spoke about the idea of rest. His angle was a spiritual one, one of sabbath, and much of what he said resonated with me. He spoke in far reaching terms, where the concept of rest applies to the entire natural world (and I would say even by extention to our man-made world as well). Examples of the need for rest are all around us and have always been. Soil needs rest from producing in order to replenish is nutrients and better enrich the future crops to be planted there. Bodies of water need rest from our lures and nets in order to replenish it's life-sustaining fish populations. Even the mechanical things we've made need rest from our use of them to recharge, cool down and be maintained. Indeed, we need sleep for our bodies to repair and restore themselves and be ready for the next day's challenges. And yet while we need rest in the form of sleep, I believe it reaches much further that that.  To me rest involves letting go for a time. Letting go of the responsibilities we have taken on, maybe for a week or more, maybe even for an hour or two. Simply being in one's own presence and the presence of one's creator. Recharging. Input not Output. Many people take "vacations" where they jam in as much entertainment, fun and sometimes neglected personal affairs before returning to work as or more exhausted than when they started their holiday. Nothing against taking these times, they can have value and are necessary in and of themselves, but they aren't rest. To me, rest is being in a place, not doing, but just being.

True rest is pretty rare. Some have found a balance in their lives where rest is a regular if not habitual part of their day or week. I applaud that achievement, and wish it on everyone. For most of us, though, I think we need to work at it. To remember that the world will go on if we take a few moments to ourselves... it might even be better off. We certainly will be. And we'll be better equipped, rejuvinated and ready to serve in whatever capacity we've found ourselves serving.

So take some time this week to rest. Turn off the TV, put down the iPhone and shut down the laptop. Walk out to your local park, hill, or rooftop and sit. Sit and enjoy the sun coming down on you and the sounds of life going on around you. Schedule time to travel to a peaceful place and be transported for a few days. Maybe it's on the other side of the world, maybe it's the other side of town. Somewhere like the river house pictured above where pretty much everything moves at a slower pace. Enable your loved ones to rest. Practice sabbath. Take a real vacation and see what it does for you. I think you and the people around you will be thankful.


Image taken with Canon 5DMII, 24-70 2.8L lens, 15 sec @f22, ISO 100

Sacrifice

Week 29

Sacrifice

July 17 - 23

The idea of sacrifice seems to many a vague idea, a noble, even romantic notion read in a book or seen in a movie. An often misunderstood concept, sacrificing to many here in the U.S. means no Starbucks so they can give $20 a week to a charity. Please don't misunderstand me, I believe that type of offering to be a positive endeavor, and perhaps the only introduction of sacrifice to someone, by circumstance or fortune, otherwise sheltered from a direct personal experience of such. This is not to say there are those in this country that don't know real strife. In light of the last few years' recession, there are people that are fighting to feed or give shelter to their children or themselves, burdened with oppressive debt, and struggling with countless other things as a result, (directly or indirectly) of these economic times. But struggle or strife and sacrifice are different things. Sacrifice is a choice. A difficult, and sometimes painful one, but a choice nonetheless.

The dictionary defines the verb to sacrifice; "to surrender or give up, or permit injury or disadvantage to, for the sake of something else." The willing foregoing of something necessary or important for the sole benefit of others. Freedom. Time. Life or limb. Acknowledgement, praise, comfort, health... all can be sacrificed for the benefit of others, and most of us do not know true sacrifice.

No doubt most everyone in this country knows a soldier, or a soldier's family. I believe whether you agree with the current conflicts or not is irrelevant. It's difficult not to acknowledge the sacrifices that these people are making. Traveling on business recently in Washington DC, I met two women that were both in town for their mutual friend's funeral, being held at Arlington cemetery. One a soldier as well, the other a close friend, both had known the man being honored for years. They had seen him injured in combat, and despite the opportunity to retire knowing he had sacrificed more than enough already, signed up to return and continue to serve. I was touched by the story these women told of their friend they had just buried, and impressed by their choice to celebrate his life and honor his decisions rather than despair or question his sacrificial choices.

On a daily basis, soldiers are killed under the U.S flag believing they are doing it for the sake of freedom, be it current or future, and I conclude that this, while not the only example, truly is a sacrifice. In this season between national celebrations and a holiday season where our soldiers are more readily remembered, I offer up a thanks to their collective and individual sacrifices.


image taken with Canon 5DMII, 24-105 4L lens, 1/3200 sec @f11, ISO 400