Recharge

This weekend I took a l road trip with my partner to visit some friends from college. We went to Staunton, Virginia to see Twelfth Night or What You Will at the American Shakespeare Center. It was terrific! Travel and experiencing a new place renews me. It’s one of the ways I recharge my batteries and pay into my imagination bank.

This trip was nearly perfect in every way except for the travel time in the car was maybe a shade too long. But we took turns driving and we listened to the entirety of the second season of the 13 Minutes to the Moon podcast which is the story of the Apollo 13 mission. And even though I’ve seen the movie several times, the podcast was riveting to listen to on this long drive.

We spent most of our time walking around town and eating. There is a main street which they block off from traffic during the weekend so you can wander up and down the shops in a street free of cars. All of the restaurants put tables out in the clear streets and it’s so festive and fun to just hang out. We ate a ton of good food and had hours of good conversations.

Our rental house came with a record player so we sat around and listened to records and chatted. At the end of our street was a giant cemetery and I have to admit that the pictures make it seem like all we did was hangout in graveyards but we spent way more time stuffing our faces. I ate Salvadorian food for the first time and it was fantastic.

While chatting with a local in the VERY well stocked indie bookstore, we learned that Trinity Episcopal Church (the header picture) has Tiffany stained glass. So of course we had to take a lap around the church to see those. Their graveyard was just a side bonus! Literally.

What I want to tell you

Take time to recharge. You don’t have to spend money. Check out your community for free museum options or public parks with free events. Travel if you want/can, but it’s not necessary. Just take some time to be outside with friends to laugh and talk and maybe share a meal. Take in some new-to-you spaces. Let time unravel without having to DO and just BE. In this time of disconnection, strengthen the connections you have, hopefully in person, or work on new ones. Be mostly free of the internet for a while. (I’m a chronically online person, so having a break is good for me.) Wander around and let the day take you where it will.

I don’t know how this trip will influence my work. Maybe in six months you’ll see me pivot to having gravestones in my work. I don’t know how it will all shake out. But the experience will percolate beneath the surface and in six months or a year, I’ll be making something and there Staunton will be. And I’ll remember how much joy this weekend brought me.

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