SUNDAY SLOWDOWN | Take a Soulful Sabbatical
“We often think that our affairs, great or small, must be tended continuously and in detail, or our world will disintegrate, and we will lose our places in the universe. That is not true, or if it is true, then our situations were so temporary that they would have collapsed anyway.”
- Maya Angelou
Every August, most Italians take several weeks off for ferragosto, originally named for a festival created by the emperor Augustus. Although officially designated as a religious holiday on August 15th, the secular celebration typically stretches beyond a single day. Many Italians take a longer vacation, often extending the holiday for a week, maybe two, and even for the entire month of August. Businesses often close for a week before or after the holiday, even for the entire month. Many Italians head to the coast to soak up the sun, or to the mountains for a refreshing breath of fresh air. Even if they're not traveling, it's a time to take a month-long ritual of pause. To step away from the daily rhythm of work and chores of home life to relax and restore. It's not seen as an indulgence or luxury in Italy, it's necessary for remembering a quality life that truly matters. It's a recalibration and reconnection of body, mind and spirit.
And although ferragosto is inherently Italian in nature, we can all take a cue from this culture and the wisdom of this attitude. What if we allowed ourselves this same kind of pause? A soulful sabbatical of sorts. Step off of the path of doing and into the quieter rhythm of simply being. A day, a week, a single breath.
X Alisa