Coming back from Vacation.

For the last two weeks, I have traveled and attempted to get caught up at the office.  Vacations are fraught periods for professionals.  The business world continues to churn as we try to disconnect from the office.  It has a nugget of anxiety built into the experience because, if things run smoothly, you look unnecessary to the organization.  If work goes sideways, you have not organized your teams correctly—either potential is a way to undermine your enjoyment of your time away from the office.  I had the good fortune to spend time with my life partner touring the natural sights of Kentucky and Tenessee.  Taking time away from the office makes you reconsider a few things.  

Spending time in caverns, caves, and rivers enjoying nature allows you to appreciate how trivial the conflicts at the office are.  It takes hundreds of thousands of years for water to create a cave.  Caverns require the labor of countless humans to excavate.  Caverns and caves become a strange combination of darkness, cold, and dampness, which with the help of water and limestone, create fantastic structures which look like abstract art.  The experience is humbling, and everyone should enjoy a little humility courtesy of nature. 

It takes a long time for nature to construct its wonders.  Thanks to gravity, time, and water, a fifty-foot waterfall was carved into the middle of the Tennessee wilderness, and I was fortunate enough to witness it.  It brought to mind the work of Lewis Walter on the “Then and Now” YouTube channel.  He has discovered how to make philosophy interesting for the internet age, and his documentary on Spinoza should be required viewing for any college kid learning about philosophy.  Spinoza is so interesting because he talks about looking at the world from a global view of nature.  We have only fleeting moments in this world, and we must appreciate our lives as we live them.  Taking some time off has a way of discovering that appreciation.

I am sure regular readers are wondering why I am talking about an experience so transient as insight gained while on vacation.  The answer is simple.  If we are ever going to do our best in the office and create organizational change, we need to spend time away to recharge, enjoy nature, and gather some philosophical insight.  Read a book that is not work-related.  Rent a kayak and go a few miles down river.  Do something anything because the reality is that work will always be there, but we will not, and we should draw some measure of enjoyment from our lives.  Not everything needs to be toil and struggle.  

I am a dedicated supporter of the agile reformation.  I will continue to dedicate my life to making the workplace better.  However, I must accept that I have a family who loves me and needs me to be present in their lives.  It is a tricky balancing act but one I am willing to try.  It is good to be back, and I look forward to more blogs about the agile reformation.  

Until next time.