I restore myself when I’m alone. ~ Marilyn Monroe

It’s been a hell of a year. Honestly this spring semester has been the hardest semester since that very first semester of the pandemic. I’ve spent some time thinking about why? The best I’ve come up with is that after two years of full on pandemic everything, people finally feel like the world should be back to normal again. Except that the normal we remember no longer exists and those who are trying to squeeze reality back into that space are trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. Now trust, if you swing a big enough hammer hard enough, you can make that work, but not with out a lot of noise, splinters and destruction. And honestly, noise, splinters and madness feels a lot like the last six months.

I am beyond tired and worn out mentally, ironically this comes as I have finally started to feel myself again since the beginning of the pandemic. This past semester at work I’ve had more HR issues, fired more people and had more issues than in a normal three year period at a job. It’s been absolutely nuts, and it feels like people have begun to take the trust I’ve put in them and burn me with it. Add to that, massive employee turnover above and below me on the responsibility ladder and it’s chaos.

So it’s time for a reset, and I’ve decided the best way to do that was to take a week someplace quiet. To do nothing but walk on the beach, swim in a pool, listen to waves, get some massage and to write. So that’s what I’m doing. The place that I’ve retreated to is a place I found when I was the most burned out I’ve ever been at work. When I first retreated to this hideout on the central coast twenty years ago, there was no cell service here, which heightened the ability to disconnect. Now, with WiFi and the ubiquitous nature of cell towers that is no longer the case. So instead, my phone is on do not disturb, all notifications are off, and no email shall be checked this week. Let the work world get along without me this week, I don’t need it encroaching on my peace.

So today I walked around, had a nice dinner and tonight I sleep with the windows open and the sounds of the waves to fall asleep to, my idea of peace. We all need these times, and they’re hard to come by, but they are also incredibly important. So find time to reset, find a special place to do it and you’ll have happier days my friends. ~ Rev Kane