Getting Away
The Mr. Marty Show this week is about summer getaways--places people can venture to escape work mostly. The idea of “getting away” always seems to be much better established in other cultures. Americans (and Canadians for that matter) stick to that “Puritan Work Ethic” of which yours truly is even guilty of pursuing. So, when one can get away, it often means “changing the scenery.” I have seen too many situations in which people will lug along their laptops to continue to work from a destination. During the pandemic, employers were wringing their hands that their employees would shirk their responsibilities hanging around their homes. But, the truth was that most people were already so programmed to work with laptops prior to the pandemic, that productivity actually went up.
Getting away requires something that people don’t have much of these days--patience.
Not patience in waiting for a table to open for dinner at a restaurant, but that patience of allowing their own body to slow down.
I was happily surprised to see that during my own summer excursions, doing a watercolor painting allowed me to stop and observe. I sat in front of the Rockies in Colorado this past June and for the next eight hours, until driven in by rain, I painted. I looked at a forest, a treeline, shifting clouds and ultimately snow falling on the higher elevations until it worked itself downward through the spruce and ended my session.
I did something, but I didn’t do the normal thing. I didn’t look at my phone, I didn’t pop my laptop.
When I painted in Ireland, sitting along the Grand Canal, I was visited by a homeless chap who was clearly mentally ill. As the “fairies” crawled around and over me: ants, spiders and little centipedes, my friend “Stephen” talked about his life. I heard things that were sad to hear about the tribulations a homeless person could endure. I also heard his hope and his own philosophy of life and love. He in turn had a captive audience for over 90 minutes, listening, nodding and every so often offering some encouraging words. That session also ended with a rainstorm. “I have to find some shelter Martin,” he said. With that he got up and ran through the rain.
Yes, getting away doesn’t need to have some change in scenery. It is seeing the world as it is and what it could be. It is taking the time to still the mind and mindfully resist and avoid the easy distractions.
We look at our phones because of our fear of “missing out” on work, gossip and news. Sadly, while we do so, the only thing getting away from us is the time we have left on this planet.
LIKE THIS POST? HERE'S THE OTHER POST OF THE WEEK BY MARTIN.