How to Bring an Island Home with You

The crazy thing about staying on an island is that you discover the beauty of space. Especially when you are on a particularly small island.

That may sound paradoxical, but it makes perfect sense to me, perhaps because I'm a woman who:
1. loves islands
2. discovered she needed some space.

Now, I always knew that I loved islands, especially the tropical ones.

But what I didn't know- at least not until I stayed on Sanibel Island for 10 glorious days- was that I sought space. I know that now because when I came back home, I immediately began missing that space.

  

Surprisingly, I didn't find I missed the physical space I'd inhabited- the warm, sandy beaches, the gentle waves of the Gulf, the salty air that felt so good on my skin- as much as I missed the mental space.

In fact, the morning after we returned home, I immediately felt squeezed for that space. I had no room to think and to just concentrate on one thing to its completion. I began to feel stressed and overwhelmed with equally pressing tasks, wondering where that "purity of intention" disappeared to, as Anne Morrow Lindbergh referred to in Gift From the Sea.

And, most importantly, how about that "enough" mindset that I myself wrote about just a couple of weeks before we left? Where did that go? I knew that coming back from vacation was always tough- for everyone- but I thought this time would be different somehow, since I'd really felt centered when I left for Sanibel. But apparently it wasn't to be. The Monday After Vacation was kicking my behind.

And I hate losing, especially to a Monday.

But after a couple of days of putting out fires and spinning my wheels with junk that all seemed to be equally important, I realized that I'd forgotten the subtraction part of the equation. I realized that this piece of the puzzle, the heavy-handed, almost ruthless prioritizing, has to come first or there's no room for mental space to exist.

It just took me 'til Thursday to realize that, which is not bad, I suppose. But hopefully next time Monday will be easier to tackle.

(If someone could just remind me that would be great.)

Vacation Space

Going on vacation- a good vacation, that is- automatically subtracts all of the non-essential details from our lives for us, limiting distractions and igniting our ability to be fully present. After all, on vacation we possess only the bare minimum of things we need, all of which can fit in the space of a suitcase. (Granted mine was rather large, but still....)

We give ourselves permission to linger instead, and notice what our family is doing, what nature is doing,

and, ideally, we even notice how we ourselves are doing, physically, mentally and spiritually. 

But what happens when we come back from this vacation? That suitcase of bare essentials gets unpacked, and is matriculated back into a world filled with too many non-essential distractions. Which is why most of us dread that Monday After Vacation: we become acutely aware of all of those distractions that had been pronouncedly absent when we were living fully and simply on our little island.

Creating Space

Not being one to give up a good fight, I decided to battle that Return-From-Paradise onslaught head-on. I was determined to bring some of that "vacay" mentality home with me.

So, in order to recapture my less-is-plenty mindset, I started subtracting. I ruthlessly unsubscribed to insignificant email lists, promotional garbage and arbitrary social media updates (there were far too many to count.) I postponed some non-pressing activities to a time when I could better prepare for them. I deleted all of the little STUFF (a better four letter word exists but I won't use it) that had been building up in my day-to-day living but which had gone unnoticed until it disappeared for 10 days.  Then, with all of this build-up gone, I again re-focused on the most important goals in my business and in my personal life.

And, you know, it felt really good! Almost as good as a day at the beach.

So, What Truly Belongs In Your Suitcase?

Why not create your own mental island of intentional, peaceful living? You could start by subtracting those trivial things that are big on distraction and little on payoff. I'm not talking about the challenging, important responsibilities critical to your livelihood, family and health. I'm talking about those meaningless distractions that hinder rather than propel your work or life forward.

And what will you do with all that mental space that's now freed up?

Here are some ideas I came up with while lingering a bit: 

Relish sweet moments.

Stare at a bird.

Reflect. 

And notice reflections.

 

Find inspiration  

in color

and interesting textures. 

Find shapes in cloud formations...

and watch the sun melt into the horizon.

Island Time

It's not easy, cutting back or saying "no" or ditching things you aren't absolutely sure about ditching. But I think it's essential. We need mental space or our bodies and brains start to revolt. And the only way to guard and protect this space is to set up protective barriers, and build in margins of time that surround our most treasured activities. Otherwise, our priorities get washed away with the tide of daily living.

I urge you to try it: build in "island time" to your life and discover the great things that happen. 

This dude's definitely built in some island time.