Where Do Your Responsibilities Live?
In case you haven't heard, Ryan and I went on vacation two weeks ago. Hopped on a plane, said deuces to the snow and forgot that we have to work for a living for eleven of the least productive days of our lives.
So much fabulous. To us.
I know a friendly gal who moved from Michigan to Arizona and to put it lightly, she hates it. Like, ha ha ha hates it, with a capital "H". And you know, I get it. Because this time of year, I ha ha ha hate Michigan. The lack of sun, the constant snow, icy roads, gray everywhere -- I hate it. Everything is dull and dead and just representative of my loathing.
Worst -- Michigan is where my real life lives. You know, stuff like taking out the garbage and running the dishwasher and waking up early and packing a lunch.
Worst -- Michigan is where my real life lives. You know, stuff like taking out the garbage and running the dishwasher and waking up early and packing a lunch.
No doubt, Arizona has its negatives, but frankly, I don't know them. If you've followed along since Christmas 2013, you know that I attach feelings to experiences. I get married more to the way something feels than to what the thing actually is. Our annual trip to Arizona is one of those things. It's the feeeeelings that get me. It's not necessarily the place, but how it feels to be there.
For me, Arizona isn't rattlesnakes and desert heat. It's no work and all play. It's sun and blue skies. It's reading a book in the afternoon on the patio. It's the first cup of coffee, outdoors. It's flip-flops in March.
If I had to get up every morning and go to work and fight the traffic in the nation's 5th largest city, I wonder if I could love Arizona. If I had to spend October without stepping on a single crunchy leaf, or stand a little too closely to a bonfire because, oh hello again crisp air(!!), could I love Arizona?
Vacations are special, because they're special. Does that make sense? There's something magical about going somewhere, and maybe it's not important where, but just going there and doing something out of the ordinary. It's taking a normal day, draining out the boring and difficult, and replacing it with a pleasant injection of fun, atypical, and if you're really lucky, new.
Arizona is special to me because it's a break from the winter. It's a week without obligation. If I want to watch TV all day, I can do that, because I have no responsibilities in Arizona. My responsibilities live in Michigan, with the snow.
I utilized my two weeks of vacation to maximum potential. I played bingo. I hiked a mountain. I went for a motorcycle ride in the mountains. Most importantly, I ate ice cream every single night.
I wonder if the magic would be ruined if I moved to my vacation spot. I guess that, yes, probably. Throw in a job and responsibilities and a house to clean and grocery shopping and that can dull the shine off the brightest diamond. And if I lived in Arizona, it wouldn't be my I-can-eat-ice-cream-every-night-if-I-want-because-I'm-on-vacation spot. It would turn into what Michigan is, and that's more along the lines of I-guess-I-should-eat-salad-for-dinner-because-diabetes-is-real. Talk about diamond duller.
So no, I'd prefer to leave Arizona as the magical place that has palm trees in January and ice cream places open year around.
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Last quick thought -- have you ever asked God for something remarkably stupid, knowing full well, mid silent request, how likely it is that God is giving you side eye?
I asked God to help me win bingo.
That's a story for next time. Promise.
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3 comments
Love this post! As you know Arizona stole my heart many many years ago. Moving here didn't change my love for this city and way of life. The daily grind of the real world does cloud things somedays, but then when you get to step back and take in the beauty again and have a day off to enjoy it, all those initial feelings come back!
ReplyDeleteGlad you guys had a great time out here!
Love, James
That sunshine and lack of snow looks HEAVENLY right now!
ReplyDeleteI totally asked God the other night to help me with my current career path switch and I KNOW he was giving me the side-eye like, giiirl I don't know about this...you sure? Haha :)
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog, three posts in & I think I'm sticking around for a while! :)