Time Off
Jul 02, 2024 5:15 am
Time Off – isn’t that a love phrase? It suggests the complete cessation of time. Unplug your clocks! Remove your wristwatch! Participate in life according to your internal rhythm.
We all need time off.
Time off has a physical meaning for people who clock their work from moment to moment, e.g. factory workers, attorneys, therapists, school teachers, doctors, and many others. They break up time into small increments which regulate their day.
Time off means being free from clocking in or keeping track.
Do people really turn off the clock when they are taking “time-off?” Many people schedule their vacations almost as much as their workdays, with a strict itinerary of flights, sights, and staying connected. Are you one of those people who take their work with them on laptops and cellphones? We often hear about the freedom that technology brings. But is working on your vacation freedom?
At first, I was disappointed to ask others to teach my Zoom Sufi classes while I was in La Pine, Oregon. Now I am grateful. Internet circumstances forced me to take a break and I am glad I did. Even my emails seemed less pressing.
Sufi camp is an ideal place to detach from time. Time seems more fluid. The morning workshop starts “around” 11:00 am. The evening workshop starts “around” 7 pm. As the days and weeks go by the start time slides later and later.
Even at Sufi camp, however, we have a “day off.” We need a break from spiritual work too.
Every Tuesday is a free day to go to Albuquerque or Santa Fe to do shopping, laundry, or have a nice meal.
Why Tuesday? Tuesday used to be the day the movie theaters had a special discount. Alas, that is no longer true. But Tuesday is still the day off.
It was not always that way. Veteran Sufi students will tell you that in the early days, summer camps had no days off. The workshops lasted for hours. The one meal was a small bowl of soup. The kitchen pantry was locked.
It has changed. When I arrived in 1985, we were served two meals a day and Tuesday was the day off. Food is no longer locked up and students have access to refrigerators to keep additional food.
If spiritual work needs a day off, what does that say about everyday work?
There always needs to be a balance between body, mind and spirit. We need a time for work, a time for play, and a time for every purpose under heaven.
I will be taking more time off for Sufi Camp.
I will teach three Zoom classes this coming week:
· Tuesday, July 2 (tomorrow) at 10:30 am Pacific,
· Sunday, July 7 at 8 am Pacific, and
· Monday, July 8 at 10:30 am Pacific, (I am filling in for Heinz before leaving on July 9th)
Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89999494833?pwd=V2pOS28yYUdXM3hkaW1rVWIvSjBUdz09
Meeting ID: 899 9949 4833
Passcode: SUFI
Here's a time converter link to check the time in your location.
I will be at camp from July 9th - July 30th.
During that time:
· Janet Norquist will teach the early Sunday Zoom class, July 14th , 21st and 28th, at 8 am Pacific, 11 am Eastern time.
· Paloma has volunteered to teach my Tuesday, July 9th class at 10:30 am Pacific before she heads to camp too.
Have a great summer. See you all again in August.
Michelle
Dr. Michelle Peticolas
Life Transformation Coach
Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss
Secrets of Life and Death
