Holidaying in 2020 - lessons from a wave

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This year's holidays for our family were interesting, different and once in a lifetime like I guess most of the experiences we had this year, right?

Our holidays:         

  • smelled of hand sanitizer;
  • had a view of forms and thermometers;
  • felt like a long-distance, a social distance;
  • sounded like the covid numbers on the radio;
  • had a sour taste that the world is not going to be the same before.

But we were together, the four of us against the world....

During lockdown this year, we got to spend more time with our kids and with each other. It was all, however, within the stress of everyday life, within crisis management conditions, within the fear of the unknown that was unfolding slowly day by day. 

This year gave me the gift of re-evaluating my desires, needs and priorities (we were among the lucky ones). These holidays were the closing of the "deal". We saw each other not as we do daily but as who we really are. We enjoyed life's small things, that are not small after all. 

Yes, I stressed about our "dear fellow South Africans" that cannot (or in many cases do not want to) protect themselves and their loved ones. I realised how grateful we are and should be for our living conditions but also what a great responsibility our privilege carries. I realised once more that the change will not come from huge, pompous actions or waiting for every person in the world to join before starting something. 

A wave does not start big and strong. It starts at some point in the middle of nothing. It raises high up and it looks fierce with all the foam it makes. You can see from that if the wave is going to make an impact. As it folds and proceeds, the strength continues to the right and left around it, as more parts of the water join in this great "foldin" of waters. Does it stop there just because more followed and joined and made it strong? No! It continues into reaching the final purpose, the final destination, to touch the shore. 

In this journey, it meets more waves that started close by, that might have also met more and more and all of them move together towards the shallow part. When this companonship of waves gets to the beach, the strength and force has died down, but the impact is there: the foam at the shallows is visible, is visible, tangible, real. But it has taken some time and some working together to make it sustainable. 

On its way, there are rocks, there are hurdles. Does the companionship stop there? Does it give up and only try where there are no hurdles? No! It calculates the impact there. It goes around and on top of the rocks - it goes gently to explain to the hurdles the reason it goes that way. And over the years, the wave convinces the rock either to come with or to just allow it to go over without resistance: something that will either slowly disappear or something that will strengthen the movement more. 

When the wind does not blow, there are no waves. There is calmness, a state of equilibrium where no one is going to be benefitted by a change. The wave has no underlying reasoning to rise, no reason to react, to change, to shout. It lives peacefully, and only moves around trusting its surroundings all in harmony.  

And what we learned from our holidays in 2020 is that taking a break trusting the calm, is also an intentional step to the right direction, to be prepared for joining a wave or being a wave. It is a step towards strength and change of perspective that has the potential to change everything afterwards. 

So, whether at home or on the road, at the beach or the mountain,   we all deserve a pause this year. An intentional, deliberate, break to re-evaluate, relook at things, re-love ourselves, our families and the world. A pause that will make us strong waves for 2021.   

Don't wait for the perfect view, the perfect conditions, the perfect timing and time period, the perfect calmness, around you. Claim your pause even on an evening after everyone is sleeping or on an early morning when everyone else is still in bed and you can look or dream of the waves. 




PS. (me and PSs....old habits)

Our holidays ALSO:         

  • smelled of watermelon, and sunblock and the ocean breeze;
  • had a view of ocean waves and smiling eyes behind masks;
  • sounded like music in the car and the boys' giggles in the night when they promised they are going to sleep;
  • tasted like ice cream and chips and an ocean-salted kiss;
  • felt like a tight hug and togetherness.



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