As we approach the much-needed holiday season, we often yearn to go away so that we can rest, recuperate and get away from our everyday lives. But what if we don’t have the money, time or opportunity to fly off to far-away destinations? Could there possibly be an alternative which costs absolutely nothing; a way we could travel beyond ourselves into new and unexplored regions?
Creativity has the ability to take us on holiday from ourselves in the most extraordinary ways. I had a rather surprising experience of this earlier this year when I came downstairs one morning at 2am to finish the trilogy of novels which had taken me nearly twenty years to write. After I had put some seemingly cold ashes from the previous evening’s fire into a large bag of very wet leaves, I set about my task which involved travelling to another world with the wonderful characters I had come to know over such a long time. At 7am I went back into the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea and returned to my imaginings. At 8.30, my husband, poked his head around the door, surprised to see that I was there.
It transpired that I had missed a rather colourful drama. At 7.15am, a neighbour had noticed plumes of smoke rising up behind our hedge. By 7.30, the smoke had turned into flames. He had called the Fire Brigade, run to our front door, repeatedly hammered on it and rung the bell, successfully waking Richard. Soon after, a Fire Engine had come screaming up the road. After several of the neighbours had battled with the firemen to extinguish the flames, the children in the road had been allowed to have a ride on the fire engine.
And I had heard absolutely nothing.
As a sound therapist, I purport to have more than unusually acute hearing so how had I managed to miss such noisy commotion?
The fact was that I had been concentrating so hard that everything else had been blocked out. Being ‘in the zone’ is like being on holiday. There is no need of aeroplanes, coaches, cars or queues when your imagination can take you away to wherever you wish to go. You do, of course, have be careful that you are safe. I was very lucky that day that others were minding the more practical side of life for me. (I should have realised that the apparently cold ashes were still hot, but at least I have learned from the experience and now put ashes in an iron bucket so that such an occasion can never arise again.)
The point is that we don’t need to fret if we are not able to get away or feel forlorn when we look at social media and wonder why we are the only ones not away in some exotic, sunny location. Instead, we can use our imagination to take us away to somewhere utterly amazing. If we are not feeling inspired then we can lose ourselves in an exciting novel, listen to a beautiful piece of music or watch a wonderful film, all of which will whiz us off to some far-flung destination, all from the comfort of our own home.
Our imagination gives us wings and is our connection to something far greater than ourselves. So enjoy creativity. Celebrate it and use it, wildly, exotically and with great, great pleasure.
Happy July and happy holidays, wherever they may be!
Love Laurelle
