You know that feeling you have when you’ve had a great vacation? That pleasant, relaxed inner calm you get when you’ve gotten some clarity on your life’s big picture goals? You see how far you’ve come thus far (in your marriage, your career, your personal growth) and then you take those benchmarks with you back into your everyday life.
I want you to imagine yourself paddling a canoe on a river, responding to every change in current as it comes, trying to remain focused on your destination but also reacting to each small crisis as it arises. Your day is filled to the max, stressful and eventful.
Now imagine you are in an airplane watching yourself from above as you paddle that canoe. You can see that each ripple is part of a larger pattern of movement, a natural flow. That emergency turn was merely a bend in the river.
* * * * *
My husband, who I’ve decided to call “Mr. B” on the blog from now on, and I were trying to fill a very real need to reconnect with each other after months of parallel living. He travels almost every week in his work. Add in our parental duties and we don’t see each other nearly enough, let alone check in with each other on matters of substance. We needed a vacation.
And then an opportunity came up. School was out for the summer. Childcare was available (thanks mom and dad!). And so I joined Mr. B for part of a work trip to New Orleans and then we stayed the weekend.
When we left home, we were very much like that canoe on the river, except we were actually in two separate canoes trying to keep together in a rushing current. We went to New Orleans on two separate planes two days apart from each other. At first, Mr. B was still working and it seemed we were having independent vacations.
Of course we had an excellent time together, as we always do when we take ourselves away. We really talked and really listened to each other. Throw in a bit of jazz, some excellent cuisine, and some site seeing and you could say it was the best few days of our year.
* * * * *
As we were heading back to Houston, I likened our airplane’s ascent to the changes we brought about in our relationship in the few days we were away from home. These are stages that almost every relationship needs and undergoes. Perhaps you’ve traveled through them yourself.
First you are at the river’s level in that canoe. Then for a little while you are in a cloud with no direction, lost, while you do the hard work, but gradually you rise to see that the shadows cast over you were merely clouds.
Then you get a break in the clouds to see they are much smaller than you previously thought and the river itself seems manageable if you could implement a few key tools for the journey.
A little more height and you are soaring above it all, seeing the pleasure in the journey and where you’ve been and where you are going and the sunburst that was hiding in plain sight, just beyond the clouds, all along.
What a sweet image. Love the cloud photos. I always try and take pictures of them and they don’t turn out. These are amazing. I love that you got some time away with your hubby. You should do it again this summer!
Amy Putkonen recently posted…An Introduction to the I Ching
What a beautiful description with the words and the photos. Reconnecting and getting away are so important. Glad you had the chance to do that :).
Leanne Chesser recently posted…Leanne & the Awesome, Amazing, Ever-Growing, Way-Cool Gratitude List
Thanks, Leanne! It’s so true and we often forget how important it is until we are doing it. I love your gratitude lists on your blog. I signed up!
Lovely that you made time for one another. I love your photos!
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Thanks, Marilyn. Your photography site is so gorgeous. I signed up for emailed posts!
I love your pictures here and congrats on your vaca with your hubby! It’s so important to stay connected through all of life’s distractions.
Michele Bergh recently posted…47 Life Lessons I’ve Learned Series
So lovely that you got away together 🙂
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What a beautiful post – words and images. Thanks for sharing & leaving your link on Planet Baby for me to find!
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Beautiful images Naomi! 🙂 Yes, life is just so busy and it is sometimes very difficult to find quality time for our loved ones. My hubby drives a truck and he is gone alot too, so I get this. Glad you two found time to relax and reconnect!
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So lovely! Linking up with you from Life on Planet Baby.
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What a meaningful post, Naomi. I love perspective and the different views it provides. As artists, we are taught to look at things in different lights, from different angles… But all too often, I believe we forget to do that with life. Thank you for the good nudge!
And I agree…cute toes!!
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Love your post and can totally relate. It is very hard sometimes to find yourself on the same page with your spouse when life/work is constantly taking you in different directions. I always find myself saying if feel like we are ships passing in the night. Add children to that equation and it just seems to expand that feeling. Anyway, I Hope you and Mr. B are doing well and glad to hear you found some time to reconnect.
Thanks for commenting, Rishona. It is soooo hard but we needed that time away and it’s helping us at home. We made a few key goals of things we can incorporate into our life at home so that we won’t get too far apart again. Saturday night chats/movie/date. 10 minutes talking every night after bedtime.
What a heart-warming story, and the idea of stepping back for perspective is very helpful. And those cloud photos – GORGEOUS!
Naomi,
I love this post! The images, your words, your story, it all is so precious. And encouraging.
It’s hard to come up with the right words.
Sending you much love…
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So glad you two enjoyed your time away together.
Very creative and meaningful.
Like a sweet little chapter in the book of life.
Loved it. Love you.
So happy to hear you had a wonderful getaway with your hubby.
I’ll be in Maine next week. I’m finishing something for you and hope to get it in the mail before I leave. If not, as soon as I settle back in.
XOXO
It did feel like a sweet chapter too. There was this one restaurant that seemed like nothing special, but the server led us down this alleyway that opened into the most gorgeous candle-lit courtyard filled with blooms and trees. It was heaven. So was the food.
Glad you got to snag a little time for yourselves! Beautiful photos. Oh, and CUTE toes!
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Beautiful, Naomi!
So happy that you had the time together. My hubby and I spent time together in New Orleans years ago. It’s such a magical city.