ditching my winter coat, donning my sunglasses


Last Wednesday I left behind the polar vortex and headed for warmer, sunnier skies. Deciding to take my vacation in the middle of winter, definitely one of my smarter decisions. Vacation does something to me beyond the usual break from every day life. As Mark Batterson writes: "Change of pace + Change of place = Change of perspective" 

To go somewhere new. To meet new people and experience new things. It's just what the doctor ordered. I not only get a chance to rest, but I get a chance to see more clearly. To re-envision my life, to see it through new eyes. Vacation gives me time to tap into the things I usually ignore, to get into my creative mind for an extended period of time. It gives me a chance to fully embrace the things of my heart, both good and bad. 

I love having a chance to read and write and have long conversations. I love having time to think deeply and being uninterrupted in that thinking. 

Tomorrow I will get on a plane and head back to winter with sun on my cheeks and renewed hope in my heart. Taking my last evening walk to the coffee shop tonight tears have filled my eyes more than once, and this is the reward of a traveling heart that lives in little corners all over the world. Tomorrow I will return to my life, but I will not return the same. This is the reward of a heart that invests in new people and places and experiences. 

If you would never be changed, don't travel or do anything new, because change is the reward of living fully and deeply with a heart that is awake and alive. 

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