HomeHomeJune 2000
Good Day! Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we recently enjoyed a long Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial kickoff for the American summer season. The Twin Cities has come to life, with people going out and about in the evenings and on weekends, and enjoying barbecues, fishing, sailing, canoeing, walking, running, or rollerblading around our many city lakes. My little neighborhood seems like Grand Central Station these days, especially after the long, quiet winter and rainy spring. We're all ready to get outdoors, have fun and enjoy our recreation.
Or are we? According to a fascinating article written by Jan Uebelherr of the Milwaukee Journal published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune last April 9th, Americans are working harder than ever. Due to downsizing, people are typically doing more than one job, and working 45, 50 and often 60 hours a week. Prior to their vacations, Americans are frenzied, trying to get everything done, all the while being afraid to take too much time away from the office for fear of being "out of the loop."
Thanks to technology, we can still keep in touch with our workplaces virtually: we can email, fax, or phone while we're away. But doesn't all this interconnectivity defeat the purpose of a vacation? What's wrong with taking time off to spend with our families and friends? Where's the harm in spending time alone to rest, reflect, and rediscover exactly what gives our lives meaning in the first place? Our foreign compatriots must think we're crazy. Many workers around the globe take a month off from their workplaces each year. This is unheard of in America.
I recently returned from a three-week visit to Australia. Like a typical American, I put in hours of overtime before I left, and was exhausted. While in Sydney, I regularly checked in at an Internet cafe, and sent emails to friends, family, and even a co-worker. It's easier and quicker than sending a postcard, I reasoned. In the grand scheme of things, three weeks is not a lot of time, but it's an eternity to a vacationing American. I played, socialized with friends, traveled within Australia, and had the time of my life.
Did I feel guilty about taking the time? You bet. However, travel is and always will be an important value in my life. Any journey I've ever taken has expanded my horizons and was worth every penny spent. Travel has changed the way I look at the world, and I've become a more compassionate human being...and, a better, more productive worker. This trip brought home a larger truth for me: the critical need for a more balanced life. Too much work depleted me in America, while having so much fun in Australia made me realize how necessary it is to enjoy the time we're given. It's finished too soon.
The larger issue is not merely about vacations; it's about using the time we have to create the lives of our dreams. Last week, I had lunch with a friend who recently quit her job, sold her condo, and is spending her time re-connecting with far-away friends and family in the U.S. She half-apologized when I asked her what she is planning next. She hasn't yet started looking for a new job. Meanwhile, another friend recently quit her part-time job so that she could spend the summer with her two young children. It will make a difference economically to her family, but she'll never get to experience this pre-adolescent period in her children's lives again. Have these women committed a crime or contributed to the downfall of Western civilization? Of course not!
We've become so busy trying to get ahead (or simply to keep our economic boats afloat) that we've forgotten how to keep our connections to the people we love and the larger world around us. Recently, NBC's Today Show ran a segment on a new book about maintaining friendships in our busy lives. Have we Americans really reached the point where we have to be taught how to be a good friend? Didn't we learn this in kindergarten? Apparently, the lessons didn't stick. Somewhere along the line, we've lost our connection to ourselves and our communities. It wasn't always this way.
Years ago in my small hometown, my grandmother regularly received visits from her women friends. Sometimes they called before coming over to her house, and sometimes they just showed up. They were warmly welcomed. The coffeepot was eternally on, and baked goods were always offered. Conversations were long and time-consuming. Friendships were strong and well-maintained over the course of decades. Granted, many women of that generation were not employed outside the home, but they worked hard within their households, maintaining a comfortable living space for their families. Sharing their lives, hopes, and dreams with each other was a natural and unquestioned part of the equation.
While technology and the new global economy have made our lives easier than those of our grandmothers, a simple truth remains: Our connectedness to our own hopes, dreams, and relationships is what keeps us healthy, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Taking the time for ourselves and our loved ones is the best investment possible. The real currency of life is time, not money. There's an old saying here in America about the fact that no one reaches his/her deathbed wishing s/he had spent more time at the office! Wouldn't it be nice if Americans finally got the message?
Here are some interesting resources on the issue of taking time off:
Arthur Frommer is a firm believer in the importance of vacation time. You can read more about this wonderful gentleman in the "testy opinions" section of his website. He also has some great information about travel deals.
Joseph Dispenza has written a fun little book called The Way of the Traveler: Making Every Trip a Journey of Self-Discovery (John Muir Publications, Sante Fe, NM). If you're planning a trip, and want to make it really meaningful, this is a wonderful companion guide.
CNNfn ran a great story from Womenconnect about the issue. Here's the URL: http://www.cnnfn.com/2000/05/31/soho/q_wc_vacation/.
Business Week also addresses the problem.
Other interesting events, news items, and web sites we've found recently and want to share with you include the following:
The National Women's Small Business Summit: New Leaders for a New Century will be held June 4th and 5th in Kansas City, KS. You can learn more about it at http://www.publicforuminstitute.com.
Santa Clara, California, is the site of the "Where Web and Tech Women Meet" conference from June 20th to 22nd. Women in Technology International is hosting this event.
The Christian Science Monitor has established a part of their site devoted to women and their progress. They will chronicle women's stories around the globe. Check it out at http://www.csmonitor.com/atcsmonitor/specials/women.
Writer Michael Gross has written the cover story for the June issue of George magazine. It's called "The Lethal Politics of Beauty" and it's a heartbreaking story of the rise in surgical procedures aimed at maintaining youth and beauty. Naturally, women are increasingly subjecting themselves to these procedures. The nineteen year old supermodel on the cover of the magazine is seen as the standard of beauty to which women want to measure themselves.Great Britain is hosting a "thin summit" on June 21st to address the issue of body images and the media, according to CNN.
Money magazine issued a special edition called Money for Women. Articles include "50 Women to Watch" and "Seven Secrets to Successful Investing." Now this is the kind of magazine we like to see!Teresa
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