I am giving myself permission to work this Sunday because I was on vacation for most of last week. My daughter isn’t that keen on the whole idea, but since she had my full undivided attention for the past 5 days, she is cutting me some slack.
My daughter and I went to Disney last week, this was her trip, as I am not really the Disney type. I didn’t even bring a book to read, I wanted to be able to make this past week completely about her. At the pool we floated together or I sat and watched her play. At the parks I enjoyed her excitement and over meals we shared fries and deserts. Yes, the crowds were big and the line-ups were insanely long, but we knew they would be and we had nothing we needed to rush off and do.
I didn’t even check emails. The hotel didn’t have wi-fi in the room, my attempt to connect to the wi-fi (that I would have to pay for in the public areas) failed and I couldn’t bring myself to pay the crazy expensive roaming fees. If I wanted to connect, I could have, but I took the difficulty I was having as a sign and stayed off-line and focused on my daughter instead. The few times that I texted my husband at home my daughter asked my why I was working, I was quick to assure her that I was not working!
One of the challenges of our supper connected world (never mind the fact that I work from home) is that it is easy to work all the time and everywhere. My kid, for one, is fed up with it and she should be, we all should be. Not only is it refreshing and mentally healthy to really “shut-off” and take a break, it really does enable better and richer face to face connections.
It wasn’t the crowds, the lines or the crazy overly manufactured “reality” of Disney that got to me last week, it was the guy who took a phone call while we were on the Safari ride in Animal Kingdom.
I know that part of what made last week special was the fact that I didn’t work and instead gave my daughter undivided attention for 5 solid days. It’s not something I can do every week or every day, but it is important to remember how disconnecting from our technology and interconnected world is sometimes the most powerful way to connect with the people we love.
When was the last time you disconnected?
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