Over Memorial Day weekend, I drove from Nashville to our home in Taos, NM with my 19 year old son Sawyer and 17 year old daughter Kayli. We stopped for a day to ride MTB’s and enjoy the parks of Bentonville, AR making the trip 3 days in total. Those three days we were in the very close proximity, in the truck or hotel room most of the time. We all felt so connected! We laughed, played, sang, talked about very deep and light things. I don’t remember laughing that much and that hard in a long time if ever. It was great to live life in very close proximity. Amazingly there were no upsets and many cherished moments. This is very different than it has been in the past. Reflecting on it this week, I realized that the joy from this short, close, proximity to 2 of the most important people in my life was created by the longer and looser proximity from the last three years. With Covid, I stopped traveling for business and have only been on a handful of business trips since then. I have been a consistent, physical and emotional presence for my wife and children during that time. I have been physically close, having meals together, hugging all the time, dropping into their worlds just to be with them and not to correct, enjoying coffee, walks, working on cars, movies, cooking meals and cleaning up from them, hiking, skiing, reading, or just sitting together listening about their day. I was not just physically with them, but giving them my full attention, not being preoccupied with my job as I had been before.
Like most of us, I am very hard on myself and feel I am not doing or being or improving enough. And it was great to have this weekend as a looking glass to see the contrast the last three years has made and to simply relish in the family connections being as I have always dreamed but rarely experienced.
If you are looking for more real connection and deeper relationships, which are the main predicters of a good life, be in proximity to those people, both physically and with your attention; not to correct, lead, or improve them, but just to BE together in this dance we call life. The payback is well worth it.
If you are looking for a beautiful, out of the way place to make those connections, check out summer in Taos. https://mvacationproperties.com/rrre/vrp/unit/Villa_Grande_Vista_Deluxe-311-15
Have a great weekend!
Art
