Fruitful Re-entry
I believe there is a phenomenon, of which I don’t know if there is a technical term. Let’s call it “re-entry.” Specifically, given this glorious summer season we have, let's call it “vacation re-entry.”
Vacation re-entry is quite simply, returning to life after vacation. Hopefully the said vacation was enjoyable, renewing in a variety of ways (mentally, spiritually, and emotionally), and worthy of good laughs and conversation for years to come. (Awesome keepsake photos and good food are an added bonus!) It is precisely these wonderful vacation characteristics that make re-entry to our everyday routine difficult. The luster of vacation fades a bit when we return to a more lackluster everyday routine.
Our family recently returned from a road trip out west in an RV. We visited old stomping grounds and neighbors in Iowa, marveled at South Dakota’s Badlands and Black Hills, and then took in parts of Montana, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Park. The phrase “God’s Grandeur” came to mind each day as I took in our new surroundings.
What a blessing it is to get away and take a family vacation. It’s a gift to be able to get away and let our minds, bodies, and spirits renew. Have you noticed how our minds work differently when we are away from work, home, and the everyday routine? It may take a little while at first for our minds to “detach” from everyday activities. But once our minds make this soft reset, they are ready to renew, recreate, and revel in our new time and space away from everyday routine. Often, creativity and ideas flow more freely when we can remove ourselves from the everyday.
Vacation isn’t the only way that we can give our minds a soft reset that prepares us for renewal. Going on a retreat, visiting family, or even just doing something for a day that is out of your ordinary routine can offer similar resets. The word “repose” comes from late Latin “repausare,” which means “to pause.” Allowing ourselves to pause our everyday routine and do something out of the ordinary is a good thing. And it’s amazing how our minds respond to repose. Venerable Fulton Sheen tells us, “Repose – true leisure – cannot be enjoyed without some recognition of the spiritual world, for the first purpose of repose is the contemplation of the good.”
Pausing everyday life – whether it’s on a vacation or doing something out of the ordinary - can allow for a fruitful re-entry. The re-entry is a great opportunity to let the goodness from the vacation spill over into our everyday life. Allow yourself to repose, to pause, and re-enter life with a renewed appreciation of the Good…..and maybe even some really great pictures to share.
