Connecting with myself-and the things I love

Connecting with myself-and the things I love

Last month I had the good fortune of going on vacation to Italy. To make it more special, it was a trip with my mom, my brother, my sister, and a dear family friend. It was an experience I won't soon forget.

I'd been to Europe before, but a long, long time ago. So going again was like discovering it for the first time. I'd never had any particular desire to go to Italy, but that's where we decided to go.

I'm very glad we did. The vacation tour we chose covered a wide range of places which included history, big cities, tiny villages, medieval villas, churches, archaeological sites, seaside resorts, lemon groves....

I think I spent a good portion of the time with my mouth hanging open at the beauty I was seeing. And another portion of the time marvelling at the feats of engineering that created those buildings.

It didn't take me too long to realize why this trip felt so comfortable, so familiar. And that's because I've always loved history and art. It's just that for the better part of a decade I've put those interests aside. I'm not sure why.

The first time I visited England I fell in love with all the old buildings, cathedrals, castle ruins. I bought tons of books on the subject. But somehow, I stopped reading. It just became something I had "done" in the past. Maybe it was no longer an interest.

Italy brought all that back. I visited as many churches as I could. I think I took about  two thousand photos, but it wasn't enough.

I soaked up all the info the tour guides gave us. And now I'm knee-deep in podcasts about the Renaissance and the artists that made it happen.

This post is different than the others. Normally I would talk about connecting with others. But this time it was important to connect with me, with the things that make ME happy; the things I'm interested in.

If there's things you've put aside because "you have no time" or there's "more important things to do"-I urge you to bring them back out.

  • Did you enjoy making birdhouses in the 90's? why not start again! 
  • Did you use to love Shakespeare? Why not read King Lear this summer?
  • Were you a fan of musicals back in the day? SOS The Abba Experience is coming to Ottawa this month!

Whatever you used to love, I'd like to encourage you to take it up again this summer. Your soul needs it. Trust me.

And in case you're wondering, the laundry and the dishes will still be there once you've had your fun.

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