The holidays, longed for by children and adolescents as well as adults, mark a period full of expectations. The little ones are looking forward to the arrival of the school break to sleep in, share activities with parents and friends or dedicate more time to recreational activities, such as playing sports and playing video games. For their part, adults are not exempt from such feelings.
Work routines can be extremely stressful for some, so it is common for them to fantasize about what they will do during the holidays.
Considering this scenario, A term that people often use to answer the question of what they will do on vacation is “disconnect.”, a metaphor used to refer to rest from the daily whirlwind. This is all well and good, as it’s important to recognize how necessary it is for all of us to pause and look at where we are and how we feel about it, but what if we put a twist on the term and talked instead of “unplugging?” to “reconnect”? In this article we will reflect on it.
Once they arrive, vacations represent a respite from everyday life, since we have greater availability of time to dedicate to leisure. It is very important to respect such a moment, since It has been shown how beneficial it can be for physical and psychological well-being both in a cognitive dimension (since many leisure activities promote creativity, the development of memory and thinking) and in its emotional dimension (as these tasks increase emotions perceived as pleasurable and reduce stress).
The prefix -des What is found in disconnect implies negation of what happens to the prefix, in this case, connect. People repeatedly insist on how much we need to distance ourselves from what we are permanently connected to: work, studies or school. And it is logical, since the routines that we carry out at the expense of meeting the demands of these spaces—whether they involve achieving objectives, respecting schedules, interacting with difficult people, among others—can be very absorbing. However, can emphasizing the idea of disconnection be problematic?
The reality is that it doesn’t have to be, or at least not in and of itself. Everyone has the right to value certain aspects of what it means to enjoy the holidays over others, for example, understanding them as a period to disconnect from the routine, to rest from the usual sources of stress and little else. However, reflecting on the words we use could serve to bring to light another alternative: understanding vacations as a period of re-connection with what is truly important. In other words, as a moment to reconnect with ourselves Let’s look at this in detail.
What do we mean by reconnecting with oneself?
Reconnecting with oneself during the holidays alludes to the idea that this period is an opportunity to return to what is important to our lives but which, however, could have been lost from sight when we were involved in the dynamics of everyday life. It is possible that due to new work or academic responsibilities we have put aside certain activities or hobbies in which we felt fully fulfilled or through which we found a degree of emotional expression that was very valuable to us, so vacations are the ideal time. to take them back.
On the other hand, reconnecting with oneself implies returning attention to one’s own person; It involves welcoming the emotional states and thoughts that are present at that precise moment Vacations can be a time of introspection and necessary self-knowledge; a pause to see how we feel at a certain moment in our lives in light of our values and projects, but also of the people around us. By “reconnecting” we are emphasizing how important it is to take a moment during this period to reflect on how our year or semester went and also plan how we want to act going forward.
Reconnecting with yourself can be difficult, but it is worth it
Ultimately, we believe it is necessary to point out that reconnecting with yourself during vacation does not necessarily have to be lived as a rewarding experience. Sometimes, looking inside brings us face to face with unpleasant emotions or thoughts that we usually avoid. Although we may not believe it, people are experts in carrying out movements to get away from pain. We do it all the time. One of the many behaviors that we could undertake to achieve this is to fill our agendas with work meetings to, for example, avoid the thought of “I am a bad professional” that causes us so much pain. Being busy would not be a problem in itself if it were not for the fact that, by doing so, we could be missing out on extremely significant experiences for us – this will depend on each person – such as spending time with our children, for example.
The point of pointing out how often we tend to resort to avoidance is that, if we set out to reconnect with our emotions and thoughts while on vacation, We may encounter painful internal experiences that we would otherwise simply walk away from Being present with difficult emotions is hard work that not everyone is willing to do, which is valid. One is not always available to work with painful experiences. However, taking the holidays as a time to reconnect with ourselves can help us be aware of what is happening to us, where we usually go, where we could go if we acted differently, and finally, where we want to go.
power of Mindfulness to connect with oneself and the present
Full attention, also known as Mindfulness, constitutes one of the most effective practices to connect with the here and now and with the Self Its fundamental idea is not to try to disconnect from our worries by avoiding these types of thoughts, but rather to pay attention to the present moment from an attitude of acceptance, without judging. This way of processing the information that comes to us from the environment or from our own body is a powerful tool for emotional self-care, and can be learned with professional help.
If you are interested in training in the practice of Mindfulness, contact us.
