CUT OFF TO CONNECT - Brittlestar’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue #28
Remember you can hear my dulcet tones on my new podcast, Canada Last Week wherever you get podcasts… or here: CanadaLastWeek.ca
This week’s guest is Will & Grace’s Eric McCormack talking about the car rental crisis in Cape Breton. No, seriously.
CUT OFF TO CONNECT
I’m at the cottage.
Okay, it’s not MY cottage but it’s Shannon’s (my wife) family’s cottage. It’s in Eastern Ontario, it was built in the 50s, it’s modest, it’s right on a lake and it’s fabulous. It’s like you’ve wandered into an immersive Group Of Seven painting.
I’ve been coming here since the mid-90s and though it’s changed over time, it’s always provided me with one constant… it cuts me off from the regular day to day a bit.
Even though technology has allowed me to easily stay connected to emails and social posts (and this very newsletter) it still provides a strong excuse to not get back to people right away.
Though it shouldn’t, “I’m just at the cottage currently” works as well to buy some time in a reply as “I’m just at the hospital”.
People seem to understand that this means you are indisposed and they respect that without much, if any, fuss.
It’s pretty great… because if you don’t pause and pull back every now and then, you’ll end up burning out (and then you WILL end up in hospital - trust me, I have).
I’ve learned to use my time at the cottage as both a breather and a chance to get a better perspective on what I’ve been doing and what I want to do. It helps me plan. It somehow provides a 10,000 foot view of where I am in life and that helps me determine where I want to be. That seems valuable.
Too often in life we get stuck in routines. Doing things because we’ve ‘always done them that way’ or doing things because we feel they just need to be done.
Routines can be great but they can also consume us. Getting things done to get things done because those things have to get done.
Routines, unchecked for purpose, can make us believe that all we can do is tread water instead of swim.
I used to think of it as working on a huge old ship. You need to shovel a lot of coal to keep going, but if you don’t pop your head above deck to steer you’re bound to hit an iceberg… and further, if you don’t pop your head above deck and sip a drink and enjoy the view every now and then, what’s the point of all that coal shovelling?
*Side note - the chairs in the photo below were from the Chateau Laurier. They were the replacement chairs for chairs that were being brought over and lost on the Titanic. Symbolism much?
I’m well aware of how lucky I am to have the use of this cottage. Though I don’t think you actually need a cottage to achieve the same thing. I think your cottage could be a coffee shop, a stay at a friend’s house, a walk in the park, a few hours on the couch with your headphones on.
It seems vitally important to me to cut yourself off for a bit so you can better connect with myself and others later.
If anyone tries to interrupt, just tell them you’re at the cottage for a bit and that it’s an hour north of (pick a town). Works every time.
You deserve a break and you need a break.
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Picture of author writing this newsletter. No, seriously.