Some years ago, it became quite clear to me that most of my surgery and anesthesiology colleagues went on vacation to far away destinations not because they necessarily enjoyed going to those places, but because they wanted to talk and brag about their vacation to their colleagues when they got back!
I took holidays last week and stayed home. Most people asked me where I was going and what was I going to do. I could hear surprise in their voice when I said I was staying home and doing locals things, including house chores & gardening. My favourite thing is to explore where I live (and I am fortunate to live in “vacation land”: Vancouver Island). Thank you for writing this and bringing this almost rare concept to the forefront. My parents rarely travelled and same with the grandparents. That just wasn’t a thing.
Thank you. I stumbled upon this as my wife and I are enjoying some rest after a beautiful worship service at our Salvation Army Corps in Windsor Ontario Canada .
Here's the problem with a holiday at home: I SHOULD go out and remove all the weeds that are going to seed before they are blown. Some of them are thistles which try to injure me. And have you heard of cheatgrass ?
I am trying to include in my prayers that God may guide me to higher gardening, and let me know what that requires. Blessing the good plants- grasses, herbs, shrubs, trees- as I walk among them- is a recent resolve which I am practicing. The beauty of a good plant at home is a joy forever.
Thank you for this homily on the blessings of home.
In our modern world where life for many is shorn of real connection, what is "home" anymore? When so many of us have 100 facebook "friends" but couldn't name our neighbour 2 doors up, where is "home". A real "home" is more than a house.
So many young couples complain that everything is so expensive, with both spouses working far more than they wish, and their children correspondingly starved for real contact with them. These same couples fly to Disney, Cuba, and elsewhere for "family time", when they have given up so much better family time to afford that. (When I was a kid, I only had one friend who had been to Disney. Not one other in the school had ever gone.)
Although travel can be enriching, so many people do it not to understand another place or people or culture more deeply, but to "get away from it all" and furthermore to put another notch on their belt, cross off another item on their bucket list, and to have another experience that gives them bragging rights. It is a selfish endeavour that we do because we are told it means we are "living our best life" when we do it.
I get around a lot by bicycle and foot over the years and have come to appreciate my home much more deeply, passing by at human speed. I speak with little kids playing in the yard and elderly people tending gardens. I notice how beautiful the flowers by the side of the neighbour-down-the-street's house are, and tell them. There is so much close to home if we slow down enough to see it.
I've always loved to stay home. My father was in the armed forces, and as a child I moved a lot, and saw a great deal of Europe at an age when I couldn't appreciate it. As an adult I've loved staying close to home; even an overnight trip is very tiring. I respect that many people love to travel, but I'm not one of them!
I agree with the sentiment of your piece, that this competition who saw the most exotic things and ate the craziest food is ridiculous. However, I also have very many good memories of vacations with our family. Granted, we didn't fly places, but we would drive to the south of Europe or the Alps, to see entirely different nature and culture than at home, and we loved it. We would do it as cheaply as possible, because we didn't have much money, but we did it every year. You can also take seeing something entirely different, and enjoy it and praise God for His beautiful creation and for the different cultural expressions everywhere. And it was lovely to have three weeks family time without interruption by work, even if we also invested a lot of time in our children the rest of the year. I hardly worked outside the home at all during their childhood. So vacation were not in that sense making up for lack of time during the rest of the year. This summer we aren't going anywhere, and that is fine too!
thank you so much. My family and I were just speaking of this as well. Our best moments are the ones we spent together no matter where we were! We live in small town SK and our holiday this summer will be spent 2 hours away on Lake Diefenbaker. Only a few days but Thankful to God for all blessings:)
I took holidays last week and stayed home. Most people asked me where I was going and what was I going to do. I could hear surprise in their voice when I said I was staying home and doing locals things, including house chores & gardening. My favourite thing is to explore where I live (and I am fortunate to live in “vacation land”: Vancouver Island). Thank you for writing this and bringing this almost rare concept to the forefront. My parents rarely travelled and same with the grandparents. That just wasn’t a thing.
Thank you. I stumbled upon this as my wife and I are enjoying some rest after a beautiful worship service at our Salvation Army Corps in Windsor Ontario Canada .
“Be still and know that I am God “
Here's the problem with a holiday at home: I SHOULD go out and remove all the weeds that are going to seed before they are blown. Some of them are thistles which try to injure me. And have you heard of cheatgrass ?
I am trying to include in my prayers that God may guide me to higher gardening, and let me know what that requires. Blessing the good plants- grasses, herbs, shrubs, trees- as I walk among them- is a recent resolve which I am practicing. The beauty of a good plant at home is a joy forever.
Thank you for this homily on the blessings of home.
This rings very true to me.
In our modern world where life for many is shorn of real connection, what is "home" anymore? When so many of us have 100 facebook "friends" but couldn't name our neighbour 2 doors up, where is "home". A real "home" is more than a house.
So many young couples complain that everything is so expensive, with both spouses working far more than they wish, and their children correspondingly starved for real contact with them. These same couples fly to Disney, Cuba, and elsewhere for "family time", when they have given up so much better family time to afford that. (When I was a kid, I only had one friend who had been to Disney. Not one other in the school had ever gone.)
Although travel can be enriching, so many people do it not to understand another place or people or culture more deeply, but to "get away from it all" and furthermore to put another notch on their belt, cross off another item on their bucket list, and to have another experience that gives them bragging rights. It is a selfish endeavour that we do because we are told it means we are "living our best life" when we do it.
I get around a lot by bicycle and foot over the years and have come to appreciate my home much more deeply, passing by at human speed. I speak with little kids playing in the yard and elderly people tending gardens. I notice how beautiful the flowers by the side of the neighbour-down-the-street's house are, and tell them. There is so much close to home if we slow down enough to see it.
That’s excellent Francis.
You put a smile on my face. I thought I was the only one thinking those thoughts in the OR!
And, you are correct, the best conversations were in the lounge next door.
I've always loved to stay home. My father was in the armed forces, and as a child I moved a lot, and saw a great deal of Europe at an age when I couldn't appreciate it. As an adult I've loved staying close to home; even an overnight trip is very tiring. I respect that many people love to travel, but I'm not one of them!
I agree with the sentiment of your piece, that this competition who saw the most exotic things and ate the craziest food is ridiculous. However, I also have very many good memories of vacations with our family. Granted, we didn't fly places, but we would drive to the south of Europe or the Alps, to see entirely different nature and culture than at home, and we loved it. We would do it as cheaply as possible, because we didn't have much money, but we did it every year. You can also take seeing something entirely different, and enjoy it and praise God for His beautiful creation and for the different cultural expressions everywhere. And it was lovely to have three weeks family time without interruption by work, even if we also invested a lot of time in our children the rest of the year. I hardly worked outside the home at all during their childhood. So vacation were not in that sense making up for lack of time during the rest of the year. This summer we aren't going anywhere, and that is fine too!
thank you so much. My family and I were just speaking of this as well. Our best moments are the ones we spent together no matter where we were! We live in small town SK and our holiday this summer will be spent 2 hours away on Lake Diefenbaker. Only a few days but Thankful to God for all blessings:)