Thanks for dropping by!
I’ve been away on vacation for most of July, but vacationing as a freelancer means working around the clock for a few weeks BEFORE vacation so I can actually take a vacation.
I crashed hard during vacation and had a welcome rest. I have a few links to drop in below before I share a few thoughts on the challenge of making time for prayer in “real life” after recentering during vacation.
Donate Here to Help Flood Victims in Eastern KY
I’m quite far away from the flooding in Eastern, KY, but there is an ongoing effort to help those devastated by floods. This Team Kentucky fund was a big help after the tornado hit Mayfield, KY (which was close to us), and it’s another great way to help from far away.
6 Ways to Break Your Creative Blocks
Some thought-provoking research and real-world advice on creativity, but this one especially resonated with me: “Not knowing is the starting point for creativity.”
The Savannah Bananas Add Spontaneity to Baseball
This article is a wild ride from start to finish. I’m not much of a baseball fan anymore, but the Bananas sure seem like they’re on to something.
Phones for Kids Via Wait Until 8th
The Wait Until 8th campaign encourages families to wait until 8th grade to buy a phone for their kids. Our oldest is in fourth grade, but we’re already discussing when he’ll get a phone—and how limited it will be. We have not made a final decision yet, but when he gets one, we may be checking out this group’s recommendations.
And now, on to the newsletter…
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I’m back from vacation, and it’s that time when I supposedly have a fresh perspective on “all the things.” I’m sure you’ve felt this way too after returning from vacation.
I somehow survived without being off social media for two weeks, and when I return, it’s always a wonder why I’ve spent so much time on it. I didn’t worry about the news or much of anything for two weeks, and it’s tempting to think I can carry all of this carefree living into my daily life.
Is that disconnected, carefree mindset actually viable or even desirable in my day-to-day life? Am I doomed to slip right back into old habits and ruts that I had longed to escape prior to vacation?
Life can feel like such a feast or famine sometimes, and carving out space for a mindful, prayerful daily state can be tough to maintain over the long-term slog of each week. You can get worn down over time, even if healthier habits can be propped up for short bursts of vacation when your responsibilities shrink to a manageable size.
With some baseline habits of morning prayer and daily exercise, the highs and lows of constant access to social media, high-stakes news stories, and so many things to worry about can still become a crushing wave that is hard to resist.
I had a moment of illumination about food on our road trip that may prove helpful here—maybe.
Although the quality of the coffee at rest stops can vary wildly, with Dunkin’ at the top and random Marathon stations in Kentucky at the mucky bottom, there is a general expectation that rest stops will be loaded up with candy, unhealthy snacks, fried food, fast food, and sugar-laden sweets. We often stop for the bathrooms and coffee, but we rarely buy anything else on the road.
This focus on coffee, not sweets, can distress our children. Mind you, they aren’t suffering on a diet of yams and raw carrots. We have all of their favorite crackers, pretzels, candy, and cookies already in the car so we don’t have to pay gas station ransoms for the same things.
Yet, I’m sympathetic to them. Stop after stop, they have to walk through a maze to the bathroom lined with every treat they could ever dream of eating. The only thing holding them back is their empty pockets and my callous denials. It’s not easy for kids.
After denying their pleading for rest stop treats for the 72nd time on the final leg of our road trip, I reflected quietly on how unnatural it is to be surrounded by so much junk food on a regular basis for a few days.
It takes a lot of willpower to deny yourself something that appears so appealing, even if it’s some of the worst stuff you could put in your body.
Yet, when we arrived home, you could say that I’m swamped once again by an unnatural number of digital influences that have an effect similar to junk food.
I don’t think it’s natural to be flooded with so much information, trauma, emotion, and conflict on our many screens. We can access so much pain, suffering, and fear, and that hardly even takes into account the emotional impact of those who misrepresent current events or make up stuff!
I doubt I’m hardly the only one who feels pulled back into the news or social media after a long break or vacation and longs to minimize his screen time and access to information.
Even if a vacation-like disconnect isn’t possible week after week, a shorter-term disconnect is useful in the pursuit of spiritual health and remaining grounded in such an unhealthy, disrupted information environment.
At times I talk about a spiritual and mental baseline or foundation of health, recognizing that the silent, stillness of morning prayer is where I should return as my starting point each day. The re-set of vacation reminds me that I don’t “need” to be immersed in the information “junk food” maze, and I’ll be much healthier if I spend intentional blocks of time outside of it.
Others talk about the true self that we find in God’s love, defining ourselves as beloved by God, not by the stream of information that flows into our lives through our screens.
There is a lot of comfort in the relatively predictable quiet of vacation where you can easily find your footing. It’s much harder to keep yourself grounded and aware of God’s love through the unpredictable highs and lows of each day.
Finding stability in daily silence and awareness of God isn’t a guarantee for smooth sailing. I still need to make good choices and use my time well!
Having seen the possibilities of offline stability during vacation, it’s much easier to make better choices when I’d otherwise uncritically immerse myself in the maze of screens.
Thanks for reading,
Ed
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