Last week I took a trip to Maine. It was the first vacation in some time where I gave myself permission to be stationary and to relax my mind. Often I need a vacation following my vacation because I’m always going-going-going. That probably has something to do with the ever-nagging fear of missing out on something. What that something is, is completely abstract and unknown… BUT IT COULD HAPPEN! That silly compulsion drives me to keep moving when I should probably stop and savor some of what has already taken place. Being a maniac has its drawbacks.

This vacation-time around I tried to reason with myself. The plan was to fully embrace the notion that to be effective and productive, to be a better version of myself, sometimes I just need to recharge my batteries. So, that’s what I would do. Does that sound ridiculously obvious? Are you thinking, “duh! Of course you do!” Well, sometimes it’s the simple things that I overlook.

And so my relaxy vacation started with staring out the window of a boat. I stood leaned up against the passenger door of my car sharing a muffin with my dog, kid snoozing in the front seat, and the wind dizzying up my hair into a whirling tornado of curls. It felt simple, glorious and wild.

Leaning back and away from the sill of the window it struck me that some of the most beautiful things are surrounded by the ugly, the rusting and the pockmarked. But if you focus on what is at the heart of it all, if you keep your eyes steady and straight ahead, the ugliness falls away leaving you with something lovely.

While I stood there gazing – the clouds looked so low, so fluffy, and so three dimension-y. It was as if they were part of a theater set hanging on strings. If I reached far enough out the window, I’m sure I could’ve cut one of them free and the white puff of cotton would’ve fallen into the water and floated away. But I decided it was best to leave them where they were for the next person to enjoy.

Clouds intact, on we sailed to away.