Summer vacation: Here I am hiking along Eel Bay, in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, in New York’s 1000 Islands… beautiful!

By Karen Hendricks

I did something on summer vacation that I’ve never done before.

Actually, it’s more like, “There was something I didn’t do on summer vacation.”

I didn’t take any work with me. For two whole weeks. The only writing I did was in my journal.

Now, I love my job as a freelance writer–don’t get me wrong. And I’m grateful for all the opportunities, assignments, important issues I get to tackle, often fun topics and people I get to meet along the way. But as I counted down “the days till vacation,” all my summer assignments were wrapping up, and I wrote my little fingers off, to finish a few others well before deadline.

I wanted to completely empty my mind of work and simply be in the moment, as my husband and I traveled, explored and hiked through New York.

As a result, I experienced a summer vacation mindshift:

Instead of asking, “Have I worked hard enough to rest?” Have I “earned” the ability to take time off? Or, can I “afford” downtime?

What if we flipped it, and asked, “Have I rested enough to do my most loving, meaningful work?”

Read that last sentence again. What an interesting flip, right?! And my answer is yes. I am so grateful and excited to share (soon!) new meaningful journalism projects on my horizon. I’m healthy, blessed, returning to work, and it feels like a clean slate and fresh start.

If you haven’t experienced this shift in thinking, I highly recommend it. Give it a whirl!

Perhaps because of that mindshift, as I returned to work and the calendar shifted from August to September, I was completely overwhelmed to see three of my magazine stories turned into cover stories. What an honor. Enjoy exploring these three stories:

For Susquehanna Style Magazine’s Dream Home Issue: “Bringing the Brockie Mansion Back to Life.”

For Celebrate Gettysburg magazine’s Women’s Issue: “Backyard Roots: Meet groundbreaking women, impacting land and lives across south central Pennsylvania and beyond.”

And for Philly MetroKids Magazine: “Philly Art Center Gears Up for 20th Anniversary.”

Many thanks to Nicola Jane Hobbs for the vacation inspiration. I paraphrased and rewrote some of her words in this post. Have you experienced a similar mindset regarding a work/life balance? I invite you to share your insights in the comments.

Wishing everyone a Happy (almost) Autumn!