A couple months ago Carson gave this advice to a friend of his who was agnsting about his life state: "Why don't you try living like you're always on vacation?" This advice was promptly discarded, but Carson and I talked about this. I wondered, how would you live life like on vacation? Vacation was on the simple level, not working, but a deeper exploration made me realize that it's not just about not working, it's about choosing what you experience. I've been keeping this in mind as I lived the past 8+ months and trying to put it into practice, but it's been hard. I've been ungrounded, detached, not hooking onto anything, uncomfortably floating around in the human soup. It occurred to me that there is an easy way to live life like you are on vacation. Ask yourself, "Self, what do I want to experience today?" Choosing what you experience is being on vacation. You may say, "Today I want to experience exhilaration and the open air." Then get on your bike and ride along Ocean Walk - or jump in the convertible and drive up through the hills. Even when the car breaks down in the middle of Venice and Lincoln, you can choose what you want to experience.
So that's how to live life like you are on vacation: Decide what you want to experience, and then experience it. It's all up to you.
And my experience of being on vacation the rest of my life is knowing the dream can change any second, any minute; that each interaction is largely how I make it - give out some candy, be mr. brusque, whatever - and constantly keeping an eye out for what avenues the universe may lay open to me, all I have to do is walk upon them.
Posted by: Carson | August 17, 2004 at 08:06 AM